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Prayer Thoughts for September 5, 2008
Friends,
Continuing my series of prayer thoughts following the ACTS outline, I offer up these prayer thoughts from four new passages of Scripture: Revelation 18-19, Psalm 38, Psalm 95 & 100, Ephesians 6:10-20. Please remember these are not deeply exegetical studies. They are prayer thoughts on Scripture in the early morning hours. Pray well!
Adoration
Revelation 18-19 For a praise section, these verses are rather, well, odd. They speak primarily of Babylon. Babylon is the epitome of all that is dark, wrong, and unholy about the world. But I think here that Babylon is more than a small locality; that is, I don’t think we can pin down Babylon and say, ‘here it is’ or ‘there it is’. Babylon is all around us. It is everywhere. This is why early on, we hear, “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues; for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes.” Isaiah said, “Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds” (3:10). There will be protection for the righteous which means that the righteous need not fear the devastation that falls upon the earth, that crushes Babylon. It will not go well for the unrighteous-they have nothing to look forward to; sadly. But the righteous must live in that place-even as Lot lived among those of Sodom and Gomorrah, even as Israel lived among the Egyptians, even as Christians lived among the Romans. “Come out of her, my people.” God will remember the crimes of Babylon, but better he will remember his people and He will bring them out safely. He will call them out by name. And they will go out to be with Him. Those who are called out of Babylon will rejoice mightily. The people of God are not entirely unscathed: There will be casualties, “In her was found the blood of prophets and of God’s people, of all who have been slaughtered on earth.” (18:24) But God will be the vindication for those who have lost their lives. And even so, ‘after this’ (19:1), John hears ‘Hallelujah!’, what sounded like ‘the roar of a great multitude.’ This song is much like the song sung in Revelation 4-5: “Salvation and glory and power belong to our God.” Well, how can we not worship? This is true worship: In the midst of grief, devastation, sadness-we can still worship God because he has not forgotten us or the wrong done to us by those who belong to Babylon. Yes Lord we worship you for you have not forgotten us!
ConfessionPsalm 38 I ask: Is there some connection between his sin he confesses at the beginning (4) and the hardship that he recounts for the reader all throughout the Psalm? Well, there is, at least, a connection between his physical unrest and his sin: “Because of your wrath there is no health in my body; there is no soundness in my bones because of my sin.” By the time we read the mid-point (verse 13) David has simply run out of words. Before the Lord he has become silent, unable or unwilling to speak or say anything else. Before God we are without excuse. Before God we are without answer and all we can do is wait: “Lord, I wait for you; you will answer, Lord my God.” Confession must recognize this powerlessness before God. We stand, if we stand at all, by his mercy and grace. We are without excuse and yet here is the Prophet still putting his trust in God and having faith that God will indeed rescue him. David minces no words. He lays his life bare before God knowing that there is no way to hide anything from God: “All my longings lie open before you Lord, my sighing is not hidden from you.” Open book before the Lord. Lord, I confess my iniquity trusting that my advocate, the Lord Jesus, will speak on my behalf.
Thanksgiving
Psalm 95 & 100 (100) We thank the Lord because we know the Lord. We come before the Lord in a spirit of thanksgiving. We enter his presence with all sorts of offerings of praise of thanksgiving and thanksgiving becomes our worship. But how can our worship be anything less than an offering of praise? An offering of thanks? Thanksgiving is the offering of humility. It is the acknowledgement that what we have and are has not come from within or of ourselves: Thanksgiving is the offering of humility because ‘it is He who made us, and we are his, we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.’ (95) How does one sing for joy and give thanks to God when one knows at the end of the Psalm: ‘they shall never enter my rest.’ It scarcely makes sense to give thanks when one knows that the end is not at all pleasant. So how does this Psalm begin the way it does, ‘Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord, let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song’ and end with, ‘So I declared oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ What is the lesson here with respect to thanksgiving? Do not harden your hearts. Lord, we give thanks. Soften our hearts that we might not grow weary and, bickering with and jealous of one another, fail to give you thanks.
SupplicationEphesians 6:10-20 What strikes me about this passage is this: There is a battle going on all around us; there are weapons to be wielded; and, more, we are on the front lines. But sometimes it appears that we do not even have to attack-not necessarily as much as we might think. Instead we need to stand (13-14) or kneel (18-20). But if we do charge we charge forward. There is no protection for the back, only for the front. And when we charge headlong into the front-lines we pray and that sword out of the mouth (Revelation 19) becomes a weapon by which the Lord conquers through us. Our petition, Lord, is that you would give us the courage to fight this battle. That you would give us the courage to stand, to kneel, but never to run. Our supplication is that we will discern the nature of the true battle. Lord may we properly use the weapons you yourself have armed us with against the enemy and not against one another.
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20-21)
Stop back again for more prayer thoughts.
Semper Deo Gloria!
Prayer Thoughts for September 2, 2008
Friends,
I mentioned I would be doing these posts. Here is the first. These will be brief prayer thoughts from selected passages. I will follow the ACTS format and use a different passage for each letter. I typically read the same four passages of Scripture for 7 days and write new thoughts each day that I read from them. I don’t limit myself to these passages nor do I feel particularly compelled to write on each one every day. I let the Spirit lead as He will.
Adoration
Habakkuk 1-3 This is a book of lament and complaint. It is styled as prayers to God with answers. Habakkuk gets the first and last word in this short book. I noticed when I was reading through the book that Habakkuk, for all his complaints, does end with a high note of praise. I think it takes quite a lot of courage to continue to worship and praise the Lord even when the Lord says, “I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe even if you were told…I am raising up the Babylonians!” That had to be a shock: “Lord, are you not from everlasting? My God, my Holy One, you will never die. You, Lord, have appointed them to execute judgment?” that would be hard to swallow. The question is how will we respond when such things confront us? Can we respond with worship and praise as did Habakkuk? Can we ‘resign’ ourselves to faith? Can we, along with the prophet, say, “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen, and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior”? Can we say that? Shouldn’t we?
Confession
Daniel 9:1-21 What struck me about Daniel’s confession is that it is firmly rooted in Scripture. He examined Scripture and Scripture examined him. He knew about the 70 years from reading Jeremiah, but he also knew of the sins of the people from reading the Law. “Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come on us, yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth.” Daniel spends a lot of time being examined by the Scripture (Law, Law of Moses, etc.) in this long prayer he prays. Not only does the Scripture prompt Daniel’s prayer, but he prayers the Scripture too. What happens to us when we read Scripture? Do we allow Scripture to scrutinize us? Do we put ourselves under its judgment and allow ourselves to be corrected by it? This is a serious aspect of our confession before God both positively and negatively.
Thanksgiving
Revelation 4-5 There are three important things to notice about Revelation 4-5. First, the throne dominates the scene. It is the first thing John sees and everything he speaks of in these two chapters is spoken of in relation to the throne. Things are in front of, around, on, or beside the throne. Second, the Lamb receives the same praise as the ‘someone’ (4:2) on the throne. They are worthy of worship, both, equally. In chapter 4 the Creator is worshiped and in chapter 5 the Redeemer is worshiped. But they are worshiped with similar words and phrases and songs. Finally, I noticed that everyone is ‘busy’ in this scene. The four living Creatures, the 24 elders, the people from every nation and tribe and language, the myriads upon myriads of angels. Everyone is doing something. And what is that ‘something’ they are doing? They are giving thanks to the one who sits on the throne: “Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever.” (4:9-10) Thanksgiving in the throne room is first nature.
Supplication
Acts 4 23-31 There is one main supplication in these verses that I think should dominate our prayers: “Now Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” How much more do we need such prayers now? “Stretch out your hand” is Exodus language. It’s the same thing Daniel prayed, “Now, Lord our God, who brought your people out of Egypt with a might hand…” (9:15). How much more do we need such prayers now? How much more do we need this sort of boldness of Moses to march into Pharaoh’s court and speak the Word of God? How much more do we need the courage of the early Christians to stand in Roman Colosseum’s and proclaim the Gospel? How much more do we need the boldness of Habakkuk to preach the unpopular message that we will probably not be altogether happy with the way God is going to ‘solve our problems’? How much more do we need the boldness of John who declares that ‘on earth as it is in heaven’ means God’s throne will dominate our vision and everything else will be spoken of in relationship to that throne? How much more do we need that sort of courage now? This is our prayer.
Stop back again for more prayer thoughts.
Semper Deo Gloria!
Friends,
It is time now to begin updating this blog on a regular basis. I have decided that for my part I will be taking a slightly different approach to what is posted here now and instead of doing what I was doing-which there was and is nothing wrong with-I will begin posting thoughts, insights, and ideas from my daily prayer walk.
I have been using the simple prayer acrostic A.C.T.S. for about the last week or so in conjunction with prayer bulletins I have been preparing for my congregation. Here’s how this works. First, I prepare a ‘prayer bulletin’ for my Saturday morning prayer team. This bulletin includes several Scriptures that we will read each day throughout the coming week. The Scriptures follow the above acrostic (A.C.T.S.). These Scriptures are read and prayed each day for the next week and then on Saturday mornings they are read again together with the prayer team and prayed.
I will post those thoughts here (probably not daily, but more often than I have been posting here). Sometimes these thoughts are homiletical (preaching) thoughts, sometimes they are worship thoughts, sometimes they are particular questions or insights, or even exegetical thoughts. There is no particular rhyme or reason to them. They will be different each day; they will be the same each day (that I post). Most importantly, they are the thoughts that grow out of my prayer time and they are the thoughts (from Scripture) that guide and shape my prayer time.
As for the acrostic, A.C.T.S. In case you do not know what those letters stand for, I’ll demonstrate for you briefly. Perhaps you will find this a helpful outline to use in structuring your prayer time. It need not be so rigid although I do believe this particular pattern is most helpful and instructive. It properly places necessary elements in a proper position to approach the Lord. Again, this is not commanded, it is merely helpful. True prayer, I believe, comes not just from the shape of the prayer or the words that fill the prayer, but from the attitude of the heart that approaches God with boldness. In other words, I believe this outline is particular helpful and useful, but it is not absolutely essential.
The ‘A’, then, stands for Adoration. This is, in modern parlance, worship, praise, giving glory to God. It is first because it is the most natural expression of our being. Hallelujah is one of the most frequently heard terms on the planet even if half the time people do not have any idea what they are even saying. Adoration comes first because, “Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy Name.” Worship comes first because in the presence of God, what else can we do? This is what the angels do, this is what the four living creatures do, this is what Peter did when Jesus gave him a load of fish. Worship is what we do. It is what we are wired, so to speak, to do. Our first and most natural response is to worship. And even when we are not so consumed with worshiping YHWH, we will worship something or someone. The world is filled with idols for this very purpose. We begin prayer with worship also because it reminds us of what we are doing. Prayer is response and that response is worship. Prayer is not always a petititioning (although it never excludes petition) but it is always worship. Prayer is always acknowledging the one to whom we pray and as such it is worship. Prayer is acknowledged dependence upon the one to whom we pray.
The ‘C’, then, stands for Confession. I’m willing to bet that most Christians do not spend enough time in confession. But I want to make this clear at the beginning that confession has a positive and negative aspect to it. On the one hand, negatively, we confess our sins. We humble ourselves and confess to God our transgressions. We are David in Psalm 51 and Psalm 38, “I confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin.” Or David in Psalm 32, “Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.’ And you forgave the guilt of my sin.” Powerful is confession; greater still is the One who forgives us and reassures us of forgiveness. We do not confess in order to be forgiven, but we confess and acknowledge forgiveness already given by grace. We confess that we might continually acknowledge God’s gracious and efficacious mercy. But confession also has a positive side to it as well.
On the other hand, we make a positive confession. For example, 2 Corinthians 9:13: “Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, people will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the Gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else.” Here is an example of a positive confession by the Christians. Other examples exist too, say in Romans 10: “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus’ is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” These are just a couple of examples of positive confession that must accompany our prayers. It is necessary to make confession not just because it reminds us of ‘who we are,’ but perhaps more importantly because it reminds us of who he is and who we are praying to. It grounds us, centers us. It keeps us aware of the presence into which we dare enter.
Well, this is all far too simplified and condensed. I suspect that there is far more too this development of prayer language than I have actually written of. Be assured, however, that this is what I am interested in developing here: A language for prayer. I am interested in taking the tools that I have received (from the Scripture, from literature, from the Spirit and not necessarily in any particular order) and putting them to use. “Prayer is language used in personal relation to God” (Eugene Peterson, Answering God, 12). I happen to agree with Peterson that the best language we can use to relate to God in this sense is the language he has already given us in Scripture.
So as this series of notes develop, as I continue to dig deeply into this language, we should see more and more Scripture appearing on the page. In the next installment of this series I will examine the ‘T’ of ACTS which is thanksgiving.
jerry
Friends,
I am no fan of dogs but the truth is that I have two of them. I did not ask for them. One was a surprise, the other was a favor. They are nice animals as far as it goes, but I would not be any the more sad if they were not mine. I know that sounds ‘mean’, but I hear that what matters nowadays is ‘authenticity.’ I am being authentic.
Dogs. Who decided we humans should have pets? Worse, who decided those pets should be dogs? When it comes to dogs there is no in-between: One either likes them or not. I do not. I think part of what I do not like about dogs is simply that I do not understand them. People always say, “Dogs are some of the smartest animals on the planet.” Huh? They make no sense to me. I do not understand the constant following, the panting, the fetching of sticks, the sniffing of butts, the gulping of food, nor their particular affection for, well, feces. Sorry to be so icky about such things, but again, I am being authentic.
I have two dogs. Well, to be sure, they are my wife’s dogs. I tolerate their presence for the sake of my wife and sons. Every now and again I will pat them on the head as a reward for leaving me alone. (They do not receive many pats!) Still, we give them a place to live (I’d rather have a couple of orphans or homeless people), we feed them (I’d rather have more food on my plate), and we exercise them (well, in this case it is better they than I). But do you know what those ungrateful animals do? Every chance they get, every opportunity that presents itself, they will run off into the woods behind our house and be gone for hours. They will run and run and run and run and only when they are ready to come back will they do so. No amount of hollering, whistling, tracking, or anything of the sort will get them back until they are ready to return. It’s almost as if they have minds of their own. Yet for all their supposed intelligence, they are the dumbest creatures on the planet.
Stupid animals.
They have a nice house to live in, food to eat, people who happen to love them and care for them. They are watered, they are fed, they are bathed, they have toys and bones to play with, and three boys who, for some reason beyond my ability to comprehend, like to sleep with them at night. I do not pretend to understand why anyone would want to share their bed with a dog, but they do. These dogs have the life. They have it made. They are living the proverbial dog’s life. And yet they still, every so often, run off into the dark, wet, scary woods. They still persist in constantly reverting to their animal ways.
They do come back; eventually. And when they come back it is inevitable that they come back absolutely filthy. Why you ask? Well, it gets back to what I said above: They (especially the beagle mutt) have a particular affection for scat–and it doesn’t matter what animal has produced it either. As long as it stinks, as long as it is rotten, as long as it is simply beyond the tolerance level of the human olfactory sense they will roll in it, enjoy it, and return to it again, and again, and again. No matter how many times we say no. No matter how many baths they get. No matter how unsanitary it is, they still keep going back. They have an uncanny knack for finding it too. If it is to be found, they are pros.
Stupid animals.
I fully realize there are some of you ‘out there’ who love animals and likely find this offensive. And there are likely others of you who find my attitude towards animals repugnant. Please, however, don’t be too quick to judge. You see, at the end of the day, I am still the master of the house and it is still my decision as to whether or not the dogs come back into the house; I always let them back in to my house. Sometimes, I am even kind enough to spare my wife the worry they have been hit by a car or lost in a pond by going and looking for the dogs. This doesn’t mean the dogs get off scott-free. Oh, no! There are consequences for being a disobedient dog: Sometimes they have to eat in the garage with the cat, sometimes they get a bath with the hose, and other times they ignored for a day or two.
But at the end of the day, stinking like feces, dirty as dirt, and, ironically, happy, they still know where to come home to. And they still know that I will open the door for them, feed them, scold them, and let them sleep under my roof. The rest of the family, well, they have jobs too. They wash them and clean them, they give them all the concern and “oh, we have missed you and are so glad you have returned” they can. Eventually, I come around after I have seen how much the rest of the family has rejoiced at their return, how much they have forgiven those wayward, stupid animals. I just wish the dogs would realize how good they have it right here with me–even when I am distant and uninterested. I wish they wouldn’t be so embarrassed about looking and smelling clean that they have to run back to the scat that is strewn about the woods behind my house. I wish the dogs would learn to be content, to rest, and not so concerned about going back to what we have cleaned them up from a hundred times or more.
Stupid dogs. Will they never learn?
Soli Deo Gloria!
Father, Have mercy on us! We, the wayward, we cry out for your grace. We pray your guiding hand lead us home safely. Amen.
Friends,
I’m sitting in my office listening to an old Delirious song called “I’m not ashamed of the Gospel.” It’s probably not ironic that I am listening to this song considering the subject matter I wish to broach and yet I didn’t plan it this way either. What I mean is, it didn’t just happen to start playing even if I had no particular awareness that it was the song that would be playing at this particular moment in time. It’s an old song, a very good song in my opinion, but probably not one that most people are listening to in their offices right now. Be that as it may, it is playing right now and I am not ashamed to admit that I am enjoying this song, at this moment, as I write this post.
I was brutally awakened the other day to the significant fact that I have been out of high school 20 years this year. 20 years! To some of you that probably seems like small change, but I’m not writing this to get into a spitting contest with anyone. I was ‘visiting’ with some school chums at my ‘myspace’ page the other day when I received a note back from one of them who said to me, “Did you hear about so-and-so dying?” A further inquiry revealed that this young man I had gone to school with 20 years ago had, in fact, committed suicide. Turns out he was 38, had an 8 year old daughter, and I guess a business that wasn’t doing particularly well. (I have sparse details and some of these could be slightly inaccurate, but that is beside the point. All of us most likely know someone who has ended up this way, left someone behind, died at their own hand; stopped believing life worth living in spite of life’s troubles.)
I’m not going to splatter the details of what I know about this man all over the web. I knew him from high school and aside from that I had no knowledge of him whatsoever. We played on the Freshman basketball team together and shared the same high school halls and the same hometown for four years. I know about him. He had a nice blue truck with a loud stereo. He was popular among our peers. And, I confess, I was a bit jealous of his good looks, his impeccable wardrobe, and the way the girls fawned over him. I suppose he was a nice enough chap, but the truth is that he always intimidated me and I was, confession time, afraid of him.
There’s no point in me speculating about the manner of his death or the reasons that precipitated it or served as a catalyst. All I know is that if the story I heard is true, then he is gone. Dead. 38 years and a lifetime ahead of him. Now nothing. And that causes me great sadness, indeed, it tears me up; breaks my heart.
When I first heard about his demise, I got to thinking: I never spoke two words to him. Seriously–I cannot recall a single conversation that I ever had with this man and I am not one for forgetting. How does one go through 4 years of life (perhaps 7 if you count junior high) and never talk to a person even once? Never once! I always thought that he thought I was not worth his time, but I never asked him either. I have no idea what he thought about anything, not that it would have mattered much then or now, because I never asked. The point is that I never spoke to him, either from fear, apprehension, intimidation, or simple refusal. I only had a 100 or so people in my graduating class so it’s not like it would have been difficult to do so.
Whatever the cause, the effect was always the same: Silence.
Instead, I was enamored by someone who was full of all that I desired: Popularity, good looks, wealth, friends, girls, possessions. I think it was safer for me to sit back and admire him from a distance so that I could envy him. It was easier for me to envy from a distance than to risk rejection up close. I know, it’s hard to figure those things out when you’re in high school and I am not likely to sit around beating myself up over this matter. Still, as I look back and reflect on those moments, I wonder if even now I treat people like that: Being so enamored with their being that I admire or envy them from a distance instead of getting up close, risking rejection, risking humiliation; putting fear aside and stepping out on faith? In a sense, it is a form of arrogance, isn’t it? I spent all those years thinking he was better than me, but in reality, it was I who thought I was better than him. Thus, I never took a single step at all in his direction preferring distance, safety, and the comfort of my own opinions and ideas than simply approaching someone with an offer of friendship.
It’s like us to be this way. We just think that ‘oh, so-and-so won’t want anything to do with me.’ And it may turn out to be so, but how do we ever know if we never take the chance? Why do we let ourselves convince ourselves what others think or believe or feel without asking them first? Well, for one thing, it is safer. It is much safer to simply ignore people we have already formed any opinion about. It’s much easier to simply let their lives be their judgment and God’s and ours. And I wonder how many people each day die at their own hand because we have already formed an opinion about them and judge them with our silence?
Bill Hybels wrote a little book called Just Walk Across the Room. He wrote this:
Whether the experience was about my own need to reflect on a powerful conversion experience or whether it was all about taking a walk across a marina parking lot and offering hope to someone down on his luck, I don’t know. But one thing I’ve learned is that life’s greatest moments evolve from simple acts of cooperation with God’s mysterious promptings–nudges that always lean toward finding what’s been lost and freeing what’s been enslaved. (16)
I think if the Lord had a word of judgment for the church it might go something like this: You sing my songs, you preach my Gospel, you give my tithes, you are pro-life, pro-truth and contend for it, and so much more…and yet… and yet…it’s your silence I detest.
Father, have mercy on us silent ones. We love your grace and delight in your salvation, but we know better. Forgive me Lord for knowing this man for the better part of 25 years and never speaking a word to him. Forgive me for envying him. Forgive my arrogance. Lord help us to realize that other people are not on this planet to be objects of worship or envy. Remind me Lord that the hurting people around us belong to you and that you have asked us to speak–to give freely what has been given freely. Lord, you know the secret prayer of my heart just now. Perhaps in Your providence, you will answer my prayer. Have mercy on us all.
Soli Deo Gloria!
Friends,
What is the best advertisement campaign ever? Take Nike for example. Every year they spend millions of dollars on advertising their product. The ads are fancy. They are video. They are audio. They are paper. The ads are on television, radio, the internet and on billboards.
The product is marketed by professional athletes who are given access to as many shoes as they need. (It is hard to imagine buying a product from someone who doesn’t have to buy it himself, but that’s another point altogether.) Go to a ball game and see the wall signs. See the ads on players hats, shirts, pants, socks, and on the gloves and bats they use. Nike places their logo in just about any place they or anyone can imagine.
I suppose some of their best advertising comes in the form of spectacular television spots that are designed to stimulate the senses. But is this really where the best advertising comes from? Is this the best Nike can do? Is the television the place where Nike sells the most shoes? I don’t think so. Let me tell you how I discovered this.
I was walking through the snow one day in my pair of Nike’s that I managed to find at the bargain price of $25 or so on the sale rack at a local sports store. The snow was fresh, clean, and no one else had dared to walk where I was walking. It is one of the small pleasures in life being the first person to walk on a fresh blanket of snow. I don’t know why, but there is something rather thrilling about being the first person to leave a trail across a yard covered in beautiful gleaming white snow. I was doing this one day.
I happened to look down and I noticed that I had left a perfectly formed footprint in the fresh snow. You know what I could see? That’s right. There in the snow, in the center of my footprint, clear as day, plain as sky, was the outline of a perfectly shaped Nike Swoosh.
This got me to thinking about advertising. I don’t care how many Nike golf balls Tiger Woods hits into a green or how many Witnesses there are to Lebron James’ mastery of the basketball. The best advertising that Nike gets is every single step that ordinary folks like myself take in a pair of their shoes. Why? Because we leave a Nike Swoosh everywhere we go. It is stamped into the mud, the dust, the grass, the concrete, snow, slush, and hardwood floors. That image, that Swoosh, left in a billion footprints every day is the best advertising that Nike will ever get.
And so too it is with the church. It is not the great big campaigns that advertise Christianity the best. It is not the Billy Graham crusades. It is not 40 Days of Purpose. It is not Your Best Life Now (not that Best Life is an ad for Christianity). None of these things: Not the biggest mega-church or the most charismatic evangelist nor the preacher with the most miracles under his belt. The best advertising the Christians do is found in every single step we take. Trillions of steps taken each day in the Name of Jesus are the best advertising we can do.
With each step of perseverance, with each step taken despite opposition and persecution, with each step taken in spite of suffering, with each step we take in the race marked out for us we ‘advertise’ Jesus. This is because Christians, like Nike, leave an imprint on this world with each step we take. This is why we press on, ahead, and are commanded not to look back. If we look back we run the risk of gloating over our victory or grousing over our failure. Instead, we look straight ahead to Jesus who also had a path to walk (Hebrews 12).
And that path is hard to walk. Oh so hard to walk.
Lord, I’m too weak to walk. Too stupid to understand. Too ungracious to be graceful. Too unlovely to be lovable. Lord, I, like you, see all the ugliness inside of my heart. I see all that which is despiseable–all that which you suffered for. And yet you chose me to be an ad campaign for Jesus. You chose me to carry his marks, his wounds, in my life. Those wounds…Lord can wounds save even me? Help me walk the path marked out for me…sketched by your finger…traced by your eye…trod by your feet…mark the place in my heart Lord that is lonely and afraid on this journey…mark it with your grace. And I–I–carry the marks of Christ?
Soli Deo Gloria!
Friends,
I have been working on my 90 Days with Jesus series at my other blog. I have 5 more to go. I have been thinking about Jesus’ words: “It is Finished!” in John 19.
It seems that our life goes from one ache to the next. My brother in law has a brain tumor and we have no idea what will be the outcome of that. He’s taking treatments, but who knows how those will end. Strangely enough, he called us last night to see how we were doing. Doesn’t make sense to me; but it does. You see, the Lord Jesus got a hold of Bob the first time around with brain tumors. I remember baptizing Bob and his wife and later conducting their wedding. Bob realizes that Jesus has finished the work, begun something new, and that He will not fail to bring to completion that which he began in us. Bob can call us (my wife and me) for precisely that reason.
And I complain about my aches and pains! The weather in NE Ohio changed again: We went from walking around with no coats in the 60’s to full blown blizzard the last two days. So of course my sinuses are clogged, draining, clogged, draining. And all the while I am complaining! Bobby called us to see how we were doing.
I went to visit a member last week. Her son was there. We were talking and having a nice conversation. He said he had a beef with me. He came to church one Sunday last year or the year before and it happened to be a day when I was asking my congregation to pray for me because I had been having some difficulties with my health. He launched into a rant about how I ‘don’t know what pain is’ how he’s ‘on morphine.’ I didn’t disagree, but I did tell him it wasn’t a contest. I thought of several other things I would like to have said–I did say, “Well, if you had been in worship on the other 51 Sundays you wouldn’t have heard a word from me about my pain.” He was quiet afterwards. I left 2 minutes later. I somewhat regretted the conversation.
A member of the Church recently had surgery to replace a hip. She’s already turning summer-saults and kart-wheels down main street! She hasn’t complained a bit and was happy to see me when I went to visit her. She didn’t accuse me of not knowing pain. She and her husband were glad to see me after her surgery too and when I went to their house: You guessed it, tea and donuts. They served me!
I’m not very good at the pastoral aspect of my work. Sometimes it is so frustrating I don’t even try. But I know that in the midst of all this complaining about sermons we don’t listen to, and all this surgery, and all this cancer there is work being done–not at all by me. No I see in all these things the different ways that people respond to the grace of God. I hear all the ways that people accept the words of Jesus, “It is finished.” I think this strong sense of completion is exactly what makes Christians different. We know what does and does not matter. We not only can serve when we are dying, but we will serve even though we are hobbled by this life’s pains and aches.
For Bobby–done deal! For the member with hip surgery–done deal! For others, Christ hasn’t suffered enough yet; his work is not yet done because theyare not satisfied. Those who understand, serve. Those who don’t, complain. I have found this to be true in nearly every visit I have ever made pastorally. Some people really understand what Jesus meant when he said: “It is finished!” and they live their lives accordingly. They are joyful servants. There is a profound difference between Christians who understand that ‘it is finished,’ and those who do not.
I told the story this past Sunday about a woman who belonged to the last church I served. I’ll never forget this woman, dying of cancer. Couldn’t even get out of bed and had to be cared for around the clock. I’ll never forget the day that she, for all intents and purposes dead already, had her husband and son roll her into the church building so she could worship the Lord before she died. I’ll never forget it.
She got it. She understood, “It is finished.”
Lord, I thank you for finishing the work on the Cross. I’m glad that I don’t need to perform to the end that I add something to your work. I’m glad that you have accomplished all that needs to be done. I’m thankful for your grace. I’m thankful that even though our bodies and lives fall apart, yet because of your work we are being renewed day by day. I pray that more and more and more will understand that the end was merely the beginning. Lord I pray you have mercy on us all as we learn to live, as we learn to accept that “It is Finished!”
jerry
PS–I just started reading Jesus’ Blood and Righteousness by Brian Vickers. I can’t believe I read this not two hours after making this post. He wrote of his father who had been diagnosed with cancer: “Yet he did not fight in desperation, even though the prognosis never got better than a hope of a slight prolonging of weeks, perhaps months. After the initial shock, he faced cancer with confidence–not confidence that he would ‘beat it,’ but confidence that came from resting, as he put it, ‘only in Jesus and all he has done for me.’ My dad was resting in the imputation of Christ’s righteousness in the face of a disease that was quickly ending his life…I was working on the topic that sustained him and gave him hope and confidence in the face of the last enemy; the defeated enemy.” (14) That’s exactly what I am talking about in this post.
Friends,
I am glad Christmas is over this year. It has been a very long season. I’m glad there was no snow and that the Christmas Eve worship was well attended. We had a great variety of participants this year: A family of bell ringers, a guitar soloist, a young female vocalist, a poet read her original work, one young man (my son) played The First Noel on the piano, one woman read a short work by Peter Marshall and another read the story of Christmas Bells. The congregation sang just about every Christmas hymn in our hymn books (and we did not even have to turn on the video projector!) We lit our candles near the end from the Advent wreath Christ candle. We read Scripture. And we prayed. It was one of my favorite Christmas eve worship services ever. It was sort of strange, however, reading Scripture that evening. One of our regular worshipers is married to a Jewish man who was in attendance. I wondered, as we read from Scripture–especially Isaiah, how those Scriptures sounded to him. I wondered how he felt hearing Christians claim the promises that God made to Israel as their own. Later on that evening I prayed, “Father, I want you to be glorified through the events of this evening.”
Yesterday, we visited with my in-laws. It was a nice afternoon. I was blessed near the end of the day to pray with my brother in law, Bob, who is now going through a second round of chemotherapy to treat a tumor. I was ashamed of myself. I prayed with him, his wife, and my wife in a quiet room in the house before he left. He is about seven years my junior. I don’t normally pray for miracles, but yesterday I did. I felt sort of strange praying for such intervention, but I don’t regret doing so. Then when I finished he said he wanted to add something, so he prayed: “Lord, I want my life to glorify you.” That’s what he said. Bob is a special man. I just don’t have words to describe the change that has taken place in his life since his baptism several years ago. You wouldn’t know that Bob has a tumor growing in his body and that the experimental treatments he is receiving may or may not work. He really is only concerned with God’s glory.
Christmas is a difficult time of year. I have been struggling mightily with the idea of God’s blessing. I’m trying to understand how to receive all things with thanksgiving and, at the same time, give everything away so that I don’t have to feel guilty for enjoying with thanksgiving all that God gives to us. In other words, I don’t want to give away just so that I won’t feel guilty. I want to give away because I want to give away. I don’t even want to give away because someone needs something. I just want to give away regardless of the person receiving. I don’t want to do so because I feel guilty. I do not want to do so because it does something for me. I want to give away because I can.
I prayed at the end of the worship Christmas Eve: “Lord, remind us that Christmas doesn’t end tomorrow. Help us remember that the work of Jesus didn’t end in the manger any more than it began in the manger. Lord let us always keep before us the cross whence comes the victory. Lord teach us that Christmas doesn’t end in a manger.” I’m glad the season is over–the holiday aspect of Christmas. I’m also glad that I have today to enjoy every blessing that comes from the Father.
Father, my prayer is simple, but not easy. Lord, I want to be the type of Christian who blesses others. I don’t just mean with money. Instead, I want to be one who blesses others with my actions, my words, my writing, my kindness, my faith–indeed Lord, I want my entire life to be a blessing to someone, given in faith and hope and expectation that I am pleasing You and Bringing glory to Your Name. As we passed the light from the Christ Candle on Christmas Eve so enable us and strengthen us to pass on that same light to others the other 364 days that will exist between this year’s Christmas eve and next year’s. Lord, I give myself to you; make me an offering acceptable and pleasing in Thy sight. Amen. Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria!
jerry
Friends,
It’s been a long day. It is still raining and snowing here in Ohio. It is still cold and wet.
I spent the day fasting. I broke it at around 6 PM this evening. I needed some clarity and I wanted to spend a day trusting in the Lord to strengthen me. The burdens were loaded on early. I carried them only in the strength of the Lord.
A friend told me about a young man of 10 years old that has had thoughts of suicide.
Another friend told me about a young man who was recently found to be in possession of illegal drugs.
Both conversations were accompanied by tears. It is a dark world all around us.
I contrast this with a post I made at Life Under the Blue Sky about another ‘Nationwide Church Growth Campaign‘ the brochure of which was filled with smiling people who had all the answers to all the problems in one handy read-in-thirty-days-book. If only life were so simple! Unfortunately, life is not as black and white Monday-Saturday as it is in Sunday mornings from behind a pulpit. If only life were really about growing a big church where everyone is happy.
But this is not reality now, is it? There are hurting people, carrying real burdens. We come along side them and pray in Jesus’ Name for strength, comfort, healing, and grace. We come along side and help them carry their burdens.
The kids at school were particularly wound-up today. Amidst the noise I tried to pray and lift up these wounded souls, these wounded people.
Lord, I pray for these children; their parents. I pray Lord in Jesus’ Name that you scatter the darkness. I pray a hedge of protection around them. I pray You will protect them from the Enemy who prowls about like a lion waiting to pounce on a victim.
I pray for them Father that you shine the light of truth in their hearts. I pray you give them a Spirit of wisdom and revelation. I pray Lord that you will heal their brokenness. Lord here is our reality. This is what we have done with the freedom you have given us and now our children suffer, hurt, and are taken captive.
Lord in Jesus’ Name, I lift these dear ones to you and ask that you protect them from the devil’s schemes. There are others Lord. Others I don’t know who are hurting. There are other children who are being tricked by the Enemy. Lord, protect them. Jesus didn’t pray to take us out of this world, but He did pray that you would protect us from the evil one. I repeat that prayer: Protect these ones from the evil one.
Shine light. Lord, we cast our burdens on you because you care for us.
We pray in Jesus’ Name, in the Power of the Spirit, to our Holy Father in Heaven,
Amen. Amen.
Friends,
“Pastors are assigned by the church to care for congregations, not exploit them, to gently cultivate parishes that are plantings for the Lord, not brashly develop religious shopping malls.”–Eugene Peterson, Under the Unpredictable Plant, 135
Dave wrote from Indiana today. I am writing from Ohio. It’s raining in Ohio. It’s been raining all day. I had an early appointment with a friend and then I went to the school. In between the two, I went to a nursing home and visited with ‘Betty.’ I learned, for the first time, that she enjoys playing Scrabble. I promised that the next time I go visit her I am taking a Scrabble board and we are going to play a game. She promised not to beat me too badly.
After school, where I spent two and a half hours monitoring Junior High aged children, I went to another nursing home and visited Louise. The most alive thing in the nursing home was the giant aquarium full of fish. Four beds to a room, and a ‘client’ on each bed. Oxygen. Sleep. I walked by one lady who was pushing a walker, “Good afternoon,” I said. Silence. Not much noise in a nursing home. Another woman in Louise’s room was filling out a chair, sleeping hard, and sucking down a constant stream of oxygen. Another woman in the lobby was smiling and wrapped in a blanket.
It’s the hardest part of my job. I visited with Louise. She was taking a nap so I had one of the nurses awaken her. She won’t remember that I visited. I’m not even certain she knew who I was–although, she did ask me six or seven times how my family was. She is sweet and I enjoyed the 24 minutes that I spent with her.
What is amazing is that Louise had more to say to me than I did to her. She asked me more questions about my family than I could ask her about hers (she has none). She smiled as I uncomfortably made small talk, and listened intently as I read from Scripture, and bowed quietly as I prayed; she seemed reluctant to let me leave.
I wish I hadn’t. In her own blessed way, Louise ministered to me yesterday. Yesterday, in a way, she was the Shepherd and I was the sheep.
It rained and rained and rained yesterday. I have a suspicion that the rain that falls in December is somehow beneficial to crops, plants, flowers, and trees that will grow in May.
jerry
I have found myself many times making fun of the drug addict or the alcoholic for looking for satisfaction in the pill or the bottle. I have known for many years that it cannot be found in these things. For many years I searched for satisfaction in these things. Like Solomon who held nothing back for his pleasures I too held nothing back I indulged myself on the bottle like their was no tomorrow. I dove into the white powders of cocaine. All of these things I realized never brought me true satisfaction. My prayer so many years ago was, “thank you Lord for saving me from these drugs that have left me empty” Oh how thankful I am to be so wise now to know that these things leave me empty. And so I look down on the guy strung out on these things who looks for his satisfaction in something I know will leave me empty.
Yet as I laugh in my smug little Christian World the heavens cry out to me. They are seeking to get my attention. The creator of the Unverse shouts clearly to me. “You have judged your brother for getting his fix on a pill but you have forsaken me to get your fix on your family, your minstry, you activities, your—-”And we can go on. Yes Lord I have sinned. I am no different than the one strung out on drugs. Yes my sin looks nicer to society but to you it is still the same. I have gone down that same road. Forgive me Lord for trying to find my satisfaction in my family, in my ministry, in my health, in my friendships. Lord I have looked away from you. I have carried your name as if somehow I could bring satisfaction by just having you a part of my life. I have sinned against you. I am desperate for you. No longer do I want to look for anything to satisfy my soul but you.
Lord I love you because you never give up on me. You look through my thoughts and actions hoping that one day I will finally give all to you. Today Lord let this be the day. Let this be the day that I find satisfaction only in You. Life itself holds nothing for me without you. I love you Lord! I love you! Thank you for satisfaction
Friends,
Something will be coming soon…I have invited a friend of mine to blog with me. As soon as we have all the details worked out, we will begin. This will be a great adventure. I’ll talk with you soon.
jerry
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