I had a seredipitous lunch recently with a pastor who told me how God told him two decades ago that his church would change. He then described to me in a panoramic way how God changed his church.
I walked away from that conversation with a new appreciation for the word "veteran". Normally when I think of the word "veteran", I think of a former member of the armed services or an old soldier of long service.
But "veteran" is also a person of long experience in some occupation or skill. The overlap in definition, however, is striking.
This pastor described his "war wounds". He showed me his "scars" and his "medals of honor". He described the "horrors of battle" and the "price of victory". He detailed the "heavy losses" as well as the "fantastic gains".
Such are all veteran leaders in the kingdom of God. A price to be paid. A world to be won. A triumph to be celebrated.
What do your "war wounds" look like? Describe to me your "scars". What does the "victory" look like?
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
Take Courage
I love this verse where the apostle Paul mentors his protege Timothy about courage. "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline" (2 Timothy 1:7).
Paul tells Timothy that whenever he looks inside himself and sees timidity, that timidity didn’t come from God. Rather, what originates from God is power, love, and self-discipline.
God gives you the enabling by the Word and the Spirit that you may have power – that you may have strength of character and be bold in exercising the authority Christ delegated to you.
God gives you the enabling by the Word and the Spirit that you may have love – that you may love everyone with God’s kind of love and be able to love even the unlovely.
God gives you the enabling by the Word and the Spirit that you may have self-discipline – that you may exercise mastery in a situation because you have first mastered yourself. You know when to say yes and when to say no, and you rise to the challenge and do it or choose not to do it.
When you look inside at your response to a difficult situation and see timidity, that’s when you claim God’s power and love, and that’s when you exercise self-discipline.
The courageous may not live forever in this life, but the timid don’t live at all! Take courage and hang onto God!
Paul tells Timothy that whenever he looks inside himself and sees timidity, that timidity didn’t come from God. Rather, what originates from God is power, love, and self-discipline.
God gives you the enabling by the Word and the Spirit that you may have power – that you may have strength of character and be bold in exercising the authority Christ delegated to you.
God gives you the enabling by the Word and the Spirit that you may have love – that you may love everyone with God’s kind of love and be able to love even the unlovely.
God gives you the enabling by the Word and the Spirit that you may have self-discipline – that you may exercise mastery in a situation because you have first mastered yourself. You know when to say yes and when to say no, and you rise to the challenge and do it or choose not to do it.
When you look inside at your response to a difficult situation and see timidity, that’s when you claim God’s power and love, and that’s when you exercise self-discipline.
The courageous may not live forever in this life, but the timid don’t live at all! Take courage and hang onto God!
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Jesus is Fun to Be With
Jesus is fun to be with. Children thought so. They loved being with Jesus, and he loved being with them.
Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me" (Matthew 19:14). Jesus invited the children to "come" to him just as he invited Peter to come to him by walking on the water (Matthew 14:28-29).
Jesus invited the children to "come" to him just the way he invites us, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). In simple childlike faith, humility, dependence, we come to God and follow Christ.
As complicated as life can become and as complicated as the Christian life can become, Jesus draws us to consider the simplicity of a child. We respond to his invitation to "come" to him.
I find the invitation of Jesus warm and welcoming and inviting. He invites me to spend time with him, talk with him, be with him, walk alongside him. With him I receive focused attention all the time. No rush. No hurry. Never too busy. Always available. Easy to be with, unless I have sin piling up in my life. But even there, he unties me from things that bind me. And he unwinds the knots of strain and stress. He releases me into freedom and joy. Jesus is fun to be with.
Jesus says, "Come to me. Come to me as a little child. Come with innocent faith, simply trusting. Come with humility. Be real. Learn of me. Lean on me. Depend on me. Just come to me."
Has it been too long that you have come to God as a little child? When was the last time you crawled into Jesus’ lap as a child? Can you recall the last time you let God love you?
Remind yourself what you were like as a child. Spend time with children to learn again the heart of a child. Return again to that simplicity. Jesus is fun to be with.
Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me" (Matthew 19:14). Jesus invited the children to "come" to him just as he invited Peter to come to him by walking on the water (Matthew 14:28-29).
Jesus invited the children to "come" to him just the way he invites us, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). In simple childlike faith, humility, dependence, we come to God and follow Christ.
As complicated as life can become and as complicated as the Christian life can become, Jesus draws us to consider the simplicity of a child. We respond to his invitation to "come" to him.
I find the invitation of Jesus warm and welcoming and inviting. He invites me to spend time with him, talk with him, be with him, walk alongside him. With him I receive focused attention all the time. No rush. No hurry. Never too busy. Always available. Easy to be with, unless I have sin piling up in my life. But even there, he unties me from things that bind me. And he unwinds the knots of strain and stress. He releases me into freedom and joy. Jesus is fun to be with.
Jesus says, "Come to me. Come to me as a little child. Come with innocent faith, simply trusting. Come with humility. Be real. Learn of me. Lean on me. Depend on me. Just come to me."
Has it been too long that you have come to God as a little child? When was the last time you crawled into Jesus’ lap as a child? Can you recall the last time you let God love you?
Remind yourself what you were like as a child. Spend time with children to learn again the heart of a child. Return again to that simplicity. Jesus is fun to be with.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Transformation for Every Decade
I remember my father telling me that every issue in his Christian life needed to be revisited when he was in his fifties and taken to a deeper level. I concur.
Theological issues that I resolved as a younger believer, I have had to wrestle with in more thorough ways. Personal issues that I overcame as a younger Christian, I have had to re-overcome. Spiritual disciplines that I locked in as a younger disciple, I have had to revisit and relearn.
My conclusions: We are always growing -- theologically, personally, spiritually. And our God is able to meet our needs at every decade of our lives. And the result is a deeper transformation.
Theological issues that I resolved as a younger believer, I have had to wrestle with in more thorough ways. Personal issues that I overcame as a younger Christian, I have had to re-overcome. Spiritual disciplines that I locked in as a younger disciple, I have had to revisit and relearn.
My conclusions: We are always growing -- theologically, personally, spiritually. And our God is able to meet our needs at every decade of our lives. And the result is a deeper transformation.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Written Prayers
I don't know what you think about written prayers, but I find that using written prayers in my own devotional life with God broadens my Christian horizon, articulates unexpressed thoughts and desires, and connects me with Christians from very different historical and cultural situations yet who have experienced the same God I know and love.
Two written prayers have captured me recently.
The first is from Basil the Great (c.330-379), Bishop of Caesarea, theologian, and one of the three great Cappadocian Fathers of the church. I love the way he captures the imagery of traveling by sea, contemporary for his world and relevant to mine.
"Steer the ship of my life, Lord, to Your quiet harbor, where I can be safe from the storms of sin and conflict. Show me the course I should take. Renew in me the gift of discernment, so that I can see the right direction in which I should go. And give me the strength and the courage to choose the right course, even when the sea is rough and the waves are high, knowing that through enduring hardship and danger in Your Name, we shall find comfort and peace. Amen. "
The second if from Henry Martyn (1781-1812), scholar and pioneer missionary to India and Persia.
"Lord, I am blind and helpless, stupid and ignorant, cause me to hear; cause me to know; teach me to do; lead me."
To that I can identify! I feel that way too!
What do you think about written prayers? Do you have any written prayers that have been meaningful to you? Can you identify with, echo, pray one of these prayers to God from your heart?
Two written prayers have captured me recently.
The first is from Basil the Great (c.330-379), Bishop of Caesarea, theologian, and one of the three great Cappadocian Fathers of the church. I love the way he captures the imagery of traveling by sea, contemporary for his world and relevant to mine.
"Steer the ship of my life, Lord, to Your quiet harbor, where I can be safe from the storms of sin and conflict. Show me the course I should take. Renew in me the gift of discernment, so that I can see the right direction in which I should go. And give me the strength and the courage to choose the right course, even when the sea is rough and the waves are high, knowing that through enduring hardship and danger in Your Name, we shall find comfort and peace. Amen. "
The second if from Henry Martyn (1781-1812), scholar and pioneer missionary to India and Persia.
"Lord, I am blind and helpless, stupid and ignorant, cause me to hear; cause me to know; teach me to do; lead me."
To that I can identify! I feel that way too!
What do you think about written prayers? Do you have any written prayers that have been meaningful to you? Can you identify with, echo, pray one of these prayers to God from your heart?
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
How Does Your Church Pray?
How does your church pray? If I were to list the ways our church prays, I would include:
• Various kinds of prayers at worship gatherings
• Prayer chain
• Prayer at multiple ministries & meetings, often at beginning & end
• Elders Saturday morning prayer
• Wednesday night prayer gathering
• Monthly Potluck & Prayer
• Sunday Morning Communities prayer
• Small group prayer
• Elders prayer for healing
You might say, "Well, it appears we are a praying church!"
Yet within me is a holy dissatisfaction that we are missing Holy Spirit energized, fervent, faith-filled, passionate, transformative, fruit-bearing prayer!
There is a difference between a church that prays and a praying church. Prayer needs to be central.
Prayer is the place of power that brings about tangible results. Prayer is the source of releasing God’s love and blessing. Prayer is the environment in which God shows up.
To that end we keep praying about praying!
• To invite God to come down and visit us with his manifest presence.
• To ask the Lord to forgive us for our praylessness.
• To implore the Spirit of God to breathe new life into our church.
• To get desperate for the oil of the Spirit to flow within every ministry and gathering.
• To seek the Lord for a fresh visitation from heaven!
Doing ministry apart from the fervent prayers of God’s people is like running in waist high water. You expend a lot of energy to move forward a little distance. I want to expend less energy to gain more much for God.
That’s what prayer does, because prayer is the work, and then God works!
And when God wants to do something great, he gets his people to praying.
• Various kinds of prayers at worship gatherings
• Prayer chain
• Prayer at multiple ministries & meetings, often at beginning & end
• Elders Saturday morning prayer
• Wednesday night prayer gathering
• Monthly Potluck & Prayer
• Sunday Morning Communities prayer
• Small group prayer
• Elders prayer for healing
You might say, "Well, it appears we are a praying church!"
Yet within me is a holy dissatisfaction that we are missing Holy Spirit energized, fervent, faith-filled, passionate, transformative, fruit-bearing prayer!
There is a difference between a church that prays and a praying church. Prayer needs to be central.
Prayer is the place of power that brings about tangible results. Prayer is the source of releasing God’s love and blessing. Prayer is the environment in which God shows up.
To that end we keep praying about praying!
• To invite God to come down and visit us with his manifest presence.
• To ask the Lord to forgive us for our praylessness.
• To implore the Spirit of God to breathe new life into our church.
• To get desperate for the oil of the Spirit to flow within every ministry and gathering.
• To seek the Lord for a fresh visitation from heaven!
Doing ministry apart from the fervent prayers of God’s people is like running in waist high water. You expend a lot of energy to move forward a little distance. I want to expend less energy to gain more much for God.
That’s what prayer does, because prayer is the work, and then God works!
And when God wants to do something great, he gets his people to praying.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
The Prayer Life of a Church
How is the prayer life of your church? Part of that answer includes the prayer life of individual Christians. But if you were to evaluate specifically how central is prayer to the life and health and growth of your church, how would you asssess your church?
One of the core values of our denomination, The Christian & Missionary Alliance, is prayer: "Prayer is the primary work of the people of God."
One of the core values of our church is prayer: "Doing everything in prayerful dependence upon the Lord and expecting God’s manifest presence."
Yet are we satisfied with our answers to prayer? Are we satisfied with the results of prayer? Are we seeing the genuine spiritual fruit of prayer in changed lives?
The life of a church not being surrounded, bathed, and covered by a blanket of prayer is like running in waist high water. You expend a lot of energy to gain little.
I want to expend a lot of energy for God and gain much. I want to pour out myself for others and gain much.
That may mean rethinking how we do prayer as a congregation. That may mean reinventing church prayer structures.
Whatever it takes, we need God. We want God. We are desperate for God's manifest presence.
One of the core values of our denomination, The Christian & Missionary Alliance, is prayer: "Prayer is the primary work of the people of God."
One of the core values of our church is prayer: "Doing everything in prayerful dependence upon the Lord and expecting God’s manifest presence."
Yet are we satisfied with our answers to prayer? Are we satisfied with the results of prayer? Are we seeing the genuine spiritual fruit of prayer in changed lives?
The life of a church not being surrounded, bathed, and covered by a blanket of prayer is like running in waist high water. You expend a lot of energy to gain little.
I want to expend a lot of energy for God and gain much. I want to pour out myself for others and gain much.
That may mean rethinking how we do prayer as a congregation. That may mean reinventing church prayer structures.
Whatever it takes, we need God. We want God. We are desperate for God's manifest presence.
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