Hero of the Year

CNN recently announced their Hero of the Year, Anuradha Koirala, a Nepalese woman who is quickly becoming a modern-day Mother Theresa to rescue girls from the Nepalese sex trade. I was inspired and humbled by this strong, resilient, and driven woman. Although I wonder what motivation her spiritual beliefs (Hindu, I believe) give her to act in such a manner, I can't deny the beauty and power of what she has undertaken. How are we, Christians who believe in a new creation ushered in by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, working to usher in the kingdom of God in dark places?

Is this why they call it Black Friday?

I've taken a week off from posting in order to refocus some time with my family away from the office and church (for the most part). It was a great Thanksgiving as my wife, Sarah, put together a wonderful meal.

As has become the culture, post-Thanksgiving, thousands of people spent a ton of time and money shopping, looking for deals in order to 'celebrate' the holiday. One of my college students (who works at Target) shared with me an internal slogan that the employees used, "Prepare to see the worst in humanity!"

CNN apparently would agree. It shouldn't surprise us, should it? The human heart's tendency to create and fashion idols + encouraged materialism + crazy deals = INSANITY.

Thefts, stampedes make Black Friday blue for some

Call it a case of consumerism bringing out the worst in people.

Three women in West Palm Beach, Florida, say $1,000 worth of Best Buy merchandise was stolen from their car Friday morning within minutes of being purchased, according to CNN affiliate WPBF.

The women were the first people at Best Buy after camping out since Wednesday night.

After they made their purchases, they put them in the car and went to JC Penney. A few minutes later, they returned, and the goods were gone.

"I mean, we've been camping since Wednesday," a tearful Shereece Francis told WPBF. "Just cruel, just wicked."

The women weren't the only ones to experience Black Friday car troubles.

At least 10 shoppers in St. Louis, Missouri, left Best Buy to find that their cars had been towed, CNN affiliate KSDK reports.

The customers had parked in a lot adjacent to Best Buy belonging to a T-Mobile store. They told KSDK there were no signs saying parking was for T-Mobile customers only, just a small, upside down sign from "Bulldog Towing" warning about abandoned or illegally parked cars.

Now, those customers are out $335.

"We're going to have to return our gifts that we bought on Black Friday just to get the car from tow," said Lavorn Ford, who had purchased a Playstation 3 for his son. "It's frustrating because you get up early in the morning to get your kids stuff for Christmas and then this stuff happens. "

A T-Mobile store manager said the store needed the parking lot when it opened at 7 a.m.

"Our lot was full by 4 and then again by 6, so we would have opened up our business and not had any spots," store manager Brian Fisher said.

It seems that some people will go to extreme lengths in the name of their children. A Wisconsin woman who cut in front of a long line of Black Friday shoppers was arrested, police say, after she allegedly threatened to shoot those she moved ahead of.

"I just wanted to get my daughter the toy that she wanted for Christmas, which probably won't be there when I go today," Lanessa L. Lattimore, 21, told CNN.

Lattimore attempted to cut in front of a line of "several hundred shoppers" at a Toys R Us store in Madison, Wisconsin, on Thursday, according to a police report. Lattimore admitted there had been a confrontation in the line but disputed the details.

"Everybody was cutting in line. But there was one girl who was threatening me, so I told her that I'd shoot her," Lattimore told CNN. "I'm not a violent person, but police charged me with disorderly conduct."

Several eager shoppers were trampled Friday morning as they surged through Target store doors in North Buffalo, New York.

CNN affiliate WIVB had a camera inside the Target and captured the drama. People at the front of the line were pushed to the floor when doors opened. The commotion and screams drew additional store staff to sort the crowd out. 

"It went from controlled to a mob in less than five minutes," shopper Rich Mathewson told WIVB. "And then it just got nasty."

Several people had cut into the line, angering the crowd, Mathewson said.

Unruly Wal-Mart shoppers in Sacramento, California, prompted an evacuation of the store, affiliate KTXL reported.

Just after the store opened its doors at 5 a.m., customers became pushy and unruly.

Sacramento Sheriff's officers were called in to help clear the store and everyone was ordered to leave their carts in the store and exit. Once everyone outside calmed down, shoppers were allowed back in to finish their shopping, according to KTXL.

Can you love the art without loving the artist?

Call me behind the news, but I just found out two days ago what it seems that everyone in evangelical circles has known for some time now - Steve Fee, worship leader at Northpoint Community Church (and Passion conferences), gifted songwriter, and lead singer for the band Fee, confessed to having an affair with a band member's wife for the last four years or so. Steve is another in the long line of worship leaders whose ministry has been marred by sexual impurity. As my wife Sarah said regretfully, it seems like this is more and more prevalent. Several questions arise for me.

1. How much is the current evangelical culture to blame for the rise and fall of such Christian celebrities? (See my previous post on Pastors as Celebrity)

2. I've scanned the host of blog entries about Steve Fee, and there's always some sentiment on a blog or comment board about not judging him. "Judge not lest ye be judged," seems to be the most quoted Scripture. Have these people read 1 Cor recently? We are to judge those within the community of faith. (Read 1 Cor 2-5 in particular.) However, our judgment of the sin is to be restorative, not condemning. We are to extend grace, but we are to judge it nonetheless. Forgiveness begins by naming the sin for what it is - evil, repulsive, and heinous. Only from there, can true restoration happen. What Steve Fee did was regrettable, sad, and tragic because he lost everything, but even more, what Steve Fee did was repulsive because it was against a holy God and a committed wife.

Now I know some will say, "are you without sin?" Absolutely not. In fact, without the grace of God, I myself am only a few decisions away from making shipwreck of my faith. As Luther's sacristy prayer said, "God, if you remove your hand from me for a moment, I will surely bring [the ministry] to ruin." Still, while acknowledging the propensity of my own heart to wander, it does not prevent me from judging this brother. My standard is not my own life, but the counsel of God. I call it sin in hopes that Steve will repent and be restored not for the sake of his giftedness, but so that he will experience fullness of joy in a covenantal marriage that expresses God's faithfulness to him.

3. A final question that I have is what do you do with the music that he has written during the season of infidelity? Does it now make all of his songs off-limits? He has written some amazing music. I think what lies behind this is a theology of art. Does the integrity of the artist disqualify his/her art? Should Steve Fee's songs be avoided because he committed adultery?

Truth - North Korean Testimony | The Lausanne Global Conversation

Truth - North Korean Testimony | The Lausanne Global Conversation

Here is the actual testimony I blogged about a few weeks ago.

Saying what needs to be said

A friend of mine recently shared with me his convictions that he would no longer be afraid to say what needs to be said even if it was hard. He was speaking in the context of pre-marital counseling - not ignoring his discernment if it became clear that two people should NOT get married. I've struggled with the same burden. There have been times as a pastor where I know that I need to say something, but my fear of man or my pastoral concern to not hurt the person keeps me from saying what needs to be said.

I experienced this just last night again. I received a call from a student that she was having a hard time at a place that I knew wasn't right for her. In fact, I could not write her a reference to this place because from my research I discerned that something was not right about it. I tried to have a conversation with her about it before she left, but I just got busy, and I chickened out. Having her call me last night with her realizations about how bad the place was confirmed this for me. I should have said something. I should have protected her doctrinally. I should have contended for pure faith...but I didn't. I didn't say anything because I knew it meant a lot to her to go, and I didn't want to disappoint her.

Not anymore. Like my friend, I'm not going to hold my tongue from speaking the truth when it needs to be said. With grace and truth, I will speak as lovingly as possible, remembering that it is necessary to obey God rather than men. God, grant me boldness and courage, love and sensitivity to speak the truth to those you've entrusted to me. Grant me discernment to contend for a pure doctrine so that you might be honored and glorified.

Scandal-proofing your church

Here's a recent editorial post by Jonathan Acuff (author of "Stuff Christians Like").

My take: How to scandal proof your church

Editor's Note: Jonathan Acuff writes the blog www.stuffchristianslike.net and recently released the book "Stuff Christians Like." He writes for the Dave Ramsey Organization and lives in Nashville with his wife and two children. Follow him on Twitter @prodigaljohn.

By Jonathan Acuff, Special to CNN

Katy Perry is the greatest “pastor’s kid gone wild," ever. It used to be Alice Cooper and we briefly considered giving the title to comedian Daniel Tosh, but at the end of the day, Perry crushes them both.

Of course, we Christians know Katy Perry as Katy Hudson, the gospel singer. But even though she’s left our musical realm, we’re ready to take her back. She and fiancé Russell Brand could be Christian music’s Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. Think about it Katy, think about it.

Maybe I’ll spread that as a “Christian urban legend.” I’ll just start telling people that rumor until eventually enough people believe it’s actually going to happen, Katy Perry is coming back!

It wouldn’t be the first Christian urban legend though. We’ve had faith-flavored folklore floating about for years. (Christians hate using Snopes to disprove things. Look it up, that’s somewhere in the Old Testament.)

One of my favorite urban legends was the one about the Satanist and the pastor on the airplane. (Doesn’t that kind of sound like a “Satanist and pastor walked into a bar” joke?) In this particular urban legend, a pastor asks the guy next to him on a plane what brought him to town. The Satanist responds, “I worship the devil and was in town to pray for the destruction of pastors across the country.”

I don’t know any Satanists, but I have to assume they do have conventions from time to time. In Vegas, of course, you can’t hold a Beelzebub Ball in Branson, Missouri. But that urban legend seems way to crazy to be true despite the fact that I heard it a dozen different times when I was a kid.

But based on the number of big pastors that have been involved in some wildly public scandals over the years, you start to worry that maybe it’s true. Maybe someone is actively praying that. Or maybe we’ve just got some really unhealthy churches.

I tend to put my belief in the latter. I don’t doubt for a second that there’s opposition to ministries all over the world, forces of evil that make Christopher Walken’s “The Prophecy” seem calm. But I think we as Christians can do a much better job scandal-proofing our churches.

In fact, I think there are four ways we can keep scandal at bay in our congregations.

1. Create an environment where it’s OK for people to fail.
Sometimes, we Christians confess “safe sins.” We sit in small groups and say, “I’ve got to be real tonight. I want to be honest, I want to give it to you raw like ODB in the Wu Tang Clan.”

So you lean in expecting some deep honesty and instead someone confesses, “I don’t read my Bible enough,” or “I don’t do very long quiet times.” If you’ve got a big neon sin, if you’re struggling with porn or a drug addiction, it’s really hard to follow the “I don’t read the Bible enough” guy.

So you fake it a little. You shine things ups. You start to use what people call the “Christian F-Word,” which is “fine.” How’s your marriage? Fine. How’s your job? Fine. As Christians, we’ve got to make it OK to fail. Not to justify it or support it, but to allow an environment where grace reigns, not judgment.

2. Go first.
The challenge of creating an honest environment is that you have to go first. You have to throw yourself on the honesty grenade, which is difficult. Because when you go first, you don’t know the boundaries. You don’t know what’s acceptable or OK.

You have to step out into the gaping void of a conversation and be honest. But when you do, when you go first and share your story and your life, you give everyone in the room or your family or your community, the gift of going second.

You give them the opportunity to go second and follow your lead. They get to step into the space you’ve carved out with your honesty. We’ve got to give the gift of going second.

3. Hold pastors accountable.
According to the Bible, Solomon was the wisest person who ever lived. He asked God for and was granted more wisdom than we can possibly fathom. And he failed.

So why do we think our pastors won’t? Why are we surprised when we treat them like they’re perfect, never challenge their actions and then they fall? It’s classic “CEO Disease” or just another example of “The Emperor’s New Clothes.”

The pastor gets so big and successful that we don’t hold them accountable. We surround them with people who constantly tell them “yes.” We establish a different set of rules for them.

Instead, we need to surround our pastors with people who love them enough to tell them things they don’t want to hear. To challenge them and embrace the Biblical model of iron sharpening iron.

4. Look out for Aaron lies.
No one wakes up on a Tuesday and says, “I think I’ll wreck my whole life, throw away my ministry and destroy my marriage.”  We all take small steps toward the big, dumb decisions we make. And along the way, we justify the things we’re doing with the craziest excuses and lies.

Like Aaron telling Moses that he just threw gold in a fire and a calf magically popped out, we’ll create wild lies. We’ll say, “Oh that, that’s just what guys do!” Or, “That’s not an emotional affair, I just have a flirty personality. That’s nothing.”

We’ll pile lie upon lie until eventually the whole stack topples over. Scandals should never really surprise us. There’s a veritable ginger bread trail of lies the whole time. Seek truth and celebrate truth and don’t for a second accept that golden calves magically appear.

I don’t know what will happen with the latest scandal. I don’t know that minister. I don’t know that church. But I do know we’ll keep having scandals if we keep creating environments where people can’t be honest and we act like our pastors are perfect.

-------------------------------------

I really resonate with his suggestion that people start becoming real with their failures and struggles. I think it was Tim Keller who tweeted that until we recognize the magnitude and depth of our failure, we won't understand the width and breadth of the Gospel. But this type of self-disclosure won't happen without a move of the Spirit of God. Confession of sin accompanied by repentance is one of the surest signs of revival and spiritual awakening. People don't just confess sin to one another until they believe the full reality of what atonement supplies. We don't come out of the darkness until the light truly is more desirable. What the author suggests is a great way to scandal-proof the church, but even more, it is nothing less than transparency in light of the Gospel.

A Slippery Slope Indeed (Why the culture can't condemn pedophilia with conviction...)

By now, many of you have heard about the latest controversy surrounding Amazon.com's offering of an e-book entitled, "A Child Lover's Code of Conduct." CNN.com talked about the uproar that this book has caused. While most certainly not agreeing with the content (in fact, it disgusts me, and even makes me angry), I find the public response to this book quite hypocritical.


Ten years ago, when the public debate about homosexuality was at its breaking point, I remember sitting in a philosophy of religion class where Dr. Bruce Little, prophesied about the slippery slope that our culture would find itself in. By removing any source of objective authority that passed judgment on sexual ethics, Dr. Little remarked that we would soon find ourselves in a place where if the rationalization for homosexuality proceeds, then things like pedophilia and bestiality were not far behind. Here's what he meant. By in large, the major arguments for homosexuality are that they are born that way, and that everyone is entitled to feel love and to be accepted. Opponents to homosexuality are portrayed as close-minded bigots who are trying to superimpose their values onto the society at large. But do you see where this leads us? If this sort of justification and reasoning is true, then could the same arguments be offered for pedophiliacs? Here's what one part of the CNN article said.


"True pedophiles love children and would never hurt them," Phillip R. Greaves II said in a phone interview with CNN on Wednesday. When asked if the self-published e-book was a "how-to manual," he said, "there are certain parts that are advisory," which set out lines that should not be crossed. "Penetration is out. You can't do that with a child, but kissing and fondling I don't think is that big of a problem," he said.


What we are seeing is the natural progression resulting from of a rejection of authority. "Everyone does what is right in his own eyes..." Even if the thought of pedophilia is repulsive (which it is), following the current acceptance of homosexuality and other "sins" (which I label as "sin" based on a source of authority from divine revelation) leaves us no way to condemn or protest pedophilia with any sort of consistency and coherence. It's simply us imposing our "old-fashioned" values (in this case, against pedophilia). This is another example of tolerance at it's worst. In fact, another portion of the article said as much. 


A few Amazon.com users defended the author's right to free speech, and a discussion on the site titled "Why Amazon is Right" delved into the constitutional implications of the controversy. 
"While I think 99.9 percent of us object to pedophilia (even though I think this particular book was a publicity stunt/joke), I think we can all agree that we don't want someone else censoring a subject matter that we may be interested in. Religion, atheism, homosexuality, etc. are some subjects that spring to mind ... and they have been censored in the past until we realized that it's best to let all information in (even if we don't like some of it), rather than allow some authority or individual decide what we can and can't know about based on their own opinions or motivations," one user wrote.


So you see, when it comes to judging lifestyles, we can't have our cake and eat it too. We can't reject an objective source of authority thus dictating a "who are we to judge?" stance towards one issue, but then vehemently reject something we don't agree with based on "principle". God, help us and the way our culture is moving, and may he show us the hypocrisy of the current perspective of tolerance.

Praying for the Church in North America

During my time at Wheaton College, the class that I dreaded taking the most (largely because I thought it was irrelevant) was World Christian Perspectives. Without knowing much about the class, I thought that it was a superfluous addition to an exegesis program and had no business being there. Thus, I decided to take the class as an independent study over the summer (which then stretched out to the Fall). Ironically, the class that I dreaded the most had the most impact on me - my class on the gospel of Mark coming in a close second. The class opened my eyes to the importance and necessity of recognizing and dialoguing with the global church. A variety of readings ranging from Phillip Jenkins' matter-of-fact presentations of the state of the global church to more liberal writings from R.S. Sugirtharajah cause me to really rethink my assumptions about the global church and the church of N. America. You see, I assumed that because we were a church that was blessed materially and resource-wise, that therefore the N. American church was the theological center of the global faith. The issue has a great deal of complexity, but this much can be said - the N. American church is one Church at the global table. I think the recent Lausanne Congress testified to that. What does this have to do with anything, you ask? Well, as I have come to understand how the American church fits into the larger global church dialogue, I am seeing the American church's unique contributions as well as its severe deficiencies. As well, from my experience growing up in a bi-cultural home, and subsequently, bi-cultural immigrant church (and now serving in a predominantly Causasian one), I see the larger needs and resources that the American church has in particular. This has caused me to pray for the N. American church - that she would rise up with humility and passion, uniting with the global church for the cause of seeing the Gospel reach the ends of the earth.


What do you think are the unique resources of the N. American church? What do you think are its deficiencies? What might we learn from the global church?


Here are the prayer requests for Day 32 (eight more days!)

• Pray that God would convict the church of North America of its areas of compromise and idolatry - materialism, loose morality, departure from the Word of God, greed, and a lack of concern for the things of God.
• Pray that God would refine his Church through suffering and persecution - awakening her to be an active presence and voice in our culture. Pray that the Church would be different from the world. 
• Pray that the Church would have a greater dependence on the Lord, not on programs, packaged ideas, technology, material resources, or our own know-how.
• Pray for a renewed passion for evangelism and discipleship within the Church. 
• Pray for pure doctrine and for pastors/teachers of the Word. Pray that the Word of God would be proclaimed in its full counsel.
• Pray that the Church would play an active role in ministering to the needs of the least of these - prisoners, the sick, the poor, the homeless. Pray for compassion and a desire for justice to motivate the Church. 
• Pray that the church of N. America would be active in responding to global crises (AIDS, human oppression, persecution, natural disasters, etc.) and in participating in international missions endeavors through a spirit of humility and partnership. Pray against pride and arrogance.

Remembering the horizon

I remember ten years ago reading about the death of JFK, Jr. His plane crashed, and it killed all on board. The tragic thing about the crash was that it was due to JFK's error. He was not completely certified as a pilot, and he did not know how to fly using his instruments. A pilot needs to be able to fly based solely on his instruments in the case of poor visibility. JFK was flying his plane at dusk, and he lost sight of his horizon. The plane gradually descended, and before he knew it, he crashed full speed into the ground.


A similar thing happened to the Israelites. God had delivered them from slavery, provided for them in the wilderness, yet Judges 2:10 says that after Joshua and his generation died, another generation arose that did not know the Lord, nor what he had done for Israel. They had forgotten their moral and spiritual horizon - abandoning the Lord and His will for their lives. This leads the entire nation and its society on a downward spiral that is summed up in the last verse in Judges - "Everyone did what was right in his own eyes." 


Isn't that what we're experiencing now? In a day and age where "Teen Mom" is one of the most popular shows on TV, where hooking up with a person is just as casual as a conversation, where sexual orientation is as much a matter of preference as what team you'll root for, where is our horizon? How will we navigate the landscape of our culture and the new challenges that the advancing times will bring? We need revelation. We need insight into the architect of this world and our hearts. We need to know how to live, what to do - we need wisdom.


Today we pray for God to move in such a way in our lives and our nation that we would return to living by the Bible. We pray this not in a condescending or arrogant way, as if we are morally pure and the world is not. Rather, we pray humbly and desperately, asking God to show us the places where we have lost sight of the horizon and pleading that he might intercede before our nation crashes.


Prayer points:

• Pray that parents would once again take seriously their primary responsibility to impart biblical values and not leave it to the culture, the schools, or even the Church. (Remember values are more “caught” than they are “taught” thus the value of practicing what we preach in our family life.) 
• Pray that our church may become a place where men and women learn to say “No to ungodliness and worldly passion, and to live upright and godly lives in this present age” (Titus 2:12).
• Pray that we might become people of the Book since Biblical values must start with the Bible. (If you uncritically absorb secular values from your TV ten times longer each day than you spend absorbing Biblical values from your Bible, guess which values you will live out ten times more often?)
• Pray that we would become a people who once again embrace Truth (absolute).
• Pray for a return to biblical values regarding sexuality and marriage in our culture. Pray for repentance from the rampant promiscuity and acceptance of homosexuality. 
• Pray that God’s people would be “the salt and light” of our nation, bringing biblical values into the schools, workplaces, and into the halls of government – to the end that many would see the reality of Jesus Christ and respond to the gospel.
• Pray for strength and courage in the face of the persecution that will surely come in response to our desire “to live a godly life in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:12).

The All-Seeing Eye...

Ed Welch wrote a great article about what the omnipresence of God truly means. Knowing that God sees us should remind us to live rightly and to walk humbly with our God, but not in the dehumanizing sense that Jean Paul Sartre suggested. Rather, knowing that God sees brings great freedom. He explains as such.


"This can too quickly evoke visions of a heavenly hall monitor or a parent saying, “Watch yourself young man, because I have my eye on you.” This isn’t the picture God gives us. Instead, the eyes of God are our hope. They are a blessing. When he sees us it means that he is close, and there is nothing better than to be in the presence of the Lord. So the picture is not that of a heavenly gestapo. It is of heaven penetrating earth – God with us. His presence reminds us that we are in his holy presence, in which we can see that sin is a destructive intruder. With the Light shining clearly, we can run from sin and death, and we can be imitators of the Light. His presence is our protection."


Read the rest of the article at Living Publicly | CCEF.

Decision Day

It's election day, and our prayer focus was on praying for our nation. Pastor Dave gave a brief and directed devotion on the need to pray for our leaders from 1 Tim 2. The point was made that we are not to be angry or quarrelsome, but rather to pray. In addition, we are to live quiet (peaceful) lives, praying for our leaders.

Here's today's prayer points:

• Pray that leaders would be elected who believe they must answer to God, not just voters; and pray that they would recognize their own inadequacy to fulfill their tasks and that they would depend upon God for knowledge, wisdom, and the courage to do what is right.
• Since “righteousness exalts a nation” pray that our nation would vote according to the moral character of the candidates and not purely along party lines; and pray that they would remember to be good examples in their conduct to the fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters of this nation.
• Pray for our President, our Legislators, our Supreme Court Justices; Pray for our State and local officials; all persons in authority:
• Pray that they would be ready to sacrifice their personal ambitions and political careers for the sake of this nation, if yielding them would be in the best interest of their country,
• Pray they would restore dignity, honor, trustworthiness, and righteousness to the office they hold.
• Pray that our elected officials would be protected from personal sin, particularly that which would compromise their judgment. Pray also that they would realize their personal sinfulness and their need for Jesus Christ.
• Pray that God would send a revival to our nation… and start with us.
• As Christian citizens – you’ve prayed, now go and VOTE.

A prayer for our Nation

For those of you joining me in prayer this week for our nation, consider this prayer that I stumbled upon in the Book of Common Prayer this morning. It's number 18 in the Prayers for National Life section.

"Almighty God, who hast given us this good land for our heritage: We humbly beseech thee that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of thy favor and glad to do thy will. Bless our land with honorable industry, sound learning, and pure manners. Save us from violence, discord, and confusion; from pride and arrogance, and from every evil way. Defend our liberties, and fashion into one united people the multitudes brought hither out of many kindreds and tongues. Endue with the spirit of wisdom those to whom in thy Name we entrust the authority of government, that there may be justice and peace at home, and that, through obedience to thy law, we may show forth thy praise among the nations of the earth In the time of prosperity, fill our hearts with thankfulness, and in the day of trouble, suffer not our trust in thee to fail; all which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."

Follow-up to my post on 2 Thess 3:1

I made a post last week about a devo my friend shared on 2 Thess 3:1. I asked him if I could repost the email he wrote to the people he cares for in light of 2 Thess 3:1. Here it is:

May it give you strength and courage to live out your mission today - wherever that may be.

"Finally, brothers and sisters, pray for us, so that the word of the Lord may spread rapidly and be glorified everywhere, just as it is among you, and that we may be rescued from wicked and evil people, for not all have faith.  But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one."  2 Thessolonians 3: 1-3

  

As I was doing my bible reading a couple days ago I read this verse and it brought you all to mind.  I've come back to it again today and just wanted to share it with you.  In these 3 short verses I find Paul resonating with our hearts.  

- Pray for us - Prayer.  I'm not very good at it, in part because I have been sucked into the culture of sentiment instead of spiritual reality.  How often we ask for prayer and offer prayer trivially.   But Paul is not trivial in this.  It is his life line.  He needs the prayers of others.  He knows others need his prayers.  May my prayers increase for you.  May our prayers increase for one another.

-  so that the word of the Lord may spread rapidly and be glorified everywhere - Prayer with an ultimate purpose.  Again, so often my prayers are trivial in comparison.  So much of the prayer I have been asking for these days have been for health, especially for my wife and newborn baby.  There is nothing wrong with this and He loves to answer these prayers.  He loves His children.  But this verse reminds me that He loves His name even more.... and so should I.    We are engaged in the task He has called us too for one simple reason - that His word would be spread in places where it has never been and that He would be glorified.  Let us pray and work toward this end.

- that we may be rescued from wicked and evil people - Not a very politically correct statement is it?  We are surrounded by lost people and we are to have compassion on them.  But Paul doesn't underestimate the power of sin and evil in the world and people around him.  Rescuing is a dangerous endeavor.  It leads us into danger.  Often rescuers need to be rescued as well.  How many firefighters, coast guard, and others have needed rescuing as they engaged in saving others?  Your mission is noble and honorable.  But we are not ignorant that there are many around you who may mean you harm.  May the Lord protect you.  He is a mighty warrior.  

-  But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you - This is the good news.  It isn't about us.  It is about Him.  He is all powerful.  He alone is completely faithful.  He is faithful to His mission.  He is faithful to His name.  He is faithful to His children.  He is faithful to you and me.  There are days I am certain, when you feel weak... when you wonder if you can make it... when you wonder if all this is worth it.  He is faithful.  He will strengthen you.

I love you.  When I think of you my heart is warmed.  May you be blessed and know His presence.

Where do you begin when praying for our nation?

Have you ever felt so overwhelmed by a situation that you don't know how or where to begin praying for it? I often feel that way when I think about problems on a larger scale than my own individual life. When I think about major natural disasters, gross human injustices, political economics, etc. As our church begins this week praying for our nation, I am equally overwhelmed. How do you begin to pray for a return to morality, integrity in the corporate world, a rejection of materialism/consumerism, an outpouring of kindness and generosity, wisdom among leaders, unity among races, compassion for the marginalized, and provision for the needy? The list could go on and on, and the prayers could takes weeks upon weeks. I'm reminded though of where we must begin in praying for our country.

2 Chronicles 7:14 says, "if my people, who are called by my name, humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land." Note who must do the repenting - not the pagans of society, not the godless hedonists who seek to fill their appetites, not the atheists, homosexuals, anti-Christian, anti-church, nor the liberals. No, the people who are called by His name, God's people, are to repent of their sin, and turn.

That's where we start. We start with our own sin and our own rebellion. We start with our own tendency to not bear His name well, and God promises to forgive our sin and heal our land. As we pray for the elections going on tomorrow (and all the associated referendums), let's be reminded that God desires a holy people for himself, a people contrite in spirit, humble in heart, and wholly devoted to him.

Prayer Points:

• Thank God this morning for his patience and faithfulness to us in our sin and failure.  Be reminded this morning that God is doing a great work in our hearts to transform us into his likeness.
• Confess any areas of brokenness, failure, corruption and sin that the Lord brings to light this morning.
• Pray that the likeness of God would become more and more evident in the people of God so that the nation will see our light and glorify God. 
• Pray for awakening in our nation - that God would awaken in the people of our country a desire to seek him.
• Pray that God would bring about a deep conviction of sin that would lead to repentance and a devotion to Jesus.
• Pray that our nation would turn from the religion of materialism and consumerism to find its greater delight in God.