Thursday, March 31, 2011

Why I Don't Drink

Why I Don’t Drink
This was a blog I had to write. I was compelled to do so by all the glorification that I see for hard liquor and the more milder brews. First of all, I judge no person for their attitude about the drink. I know, I know I’ve been raised in what was formerly the “Bible belt.” So I do take that in consideration. But I also take in the consideration of all the good that the consumption (especially the over consumption) of alcohol has done
What does the Bible say about the consumption of wine, beer, etc.? You’ve read it. It does speak against getting drunk, so you don’t do something stupid. It does identify beer as “a brawler.” And yes, Jesus did make wine for the wedding party as his first miracle. Were they over-indulging at that wedding? I bet they probably did. So why not just be a “sipping saint”?
This is about me. Why don’t I drink? I ain’t yo daddy, so I’m really not concerned with what you do, because you are going to do what you’re going to do anyway. Rock on.
Simply put, I don’t want to be a stumbling block to someone else. Who knows I might be able to drink a couple brewskies at the beach with no problem. But there may be someone watching me, modeling my behavior that can’t handle just a couple. As a pastor I have seen the devastation that drinking causes to homes. Families are torn apart, because someone has to have their six-pack or case; and then turn into a completely different person. People will hop in their cars and drive drunk and change (ruin in many cases) the lives of innocent bystanders. Wives will be without their husbands and vice-versa while their loved one spends “time-out” in jail after getting a DUI.
I grew up in an era when almost every adult male of influence in my life was committed to the drink. Most of them managed to function in life, but some had marital issues probably associated with the drink. With marital issues come child-raising issues. Alcohol has put the “dys” into dysfunctional families on many occasions, and it is so unneeded.
I know my name at the end of the night. I don’t pray to the porcelain gods. I don’t have to worry who might have been killed in a car wreck because of my habit.
Finally, my conscience will be clean, in that, I didn’t teach anyone to drink (who then went out and got a dui, ruined their marriage, made a tough life on their kids or killed someone with their car).
For all the great advertisements for beer & other liquor, for all the FB pages glorifying drinking....THIS DISADVERTISEMENT IS FOR YOU. Thumbs down. Let me wash it down with this reminder: this is my stance and I’m not looking to be popular. I’m not picking a battle, because that's not how I roll. I hope to be a positive influence on just one person. ---I want folks to know, there is another side. Please drink in silence. It might save a life.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Covenant Prayer

"What we need is a desire to know the whole will of God, with a fixed resolution to do it."---John Wesley
Covenant Prayer is a profound interior heart call to a God-intoxicated life.--Richard Foster
We are to fix our hearts on God in prayer. At the heart of the covenant is commitment. People are slow to commit to anything. If they commit to do something, they fear they will not be free to do something else. Yet, all the great things we've experienced in life or benefited from are because we or others lived disciplined, committed lives.
Covenant a time and place for prayer with God. Commit also to prepare your heart before you meet with God. "Waste time" with God. Do you remember those teenage-lover years when you were on the phone and no one was talking? Spend time with God. Spend quality time, not left-over time with God in prayer. Commit to it. Covenant prayer. Make a fixed habit.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Formation Prayer

"Prayer---secret, fervent, believing prayer---lies at the root of all personal godliness."---Wm.Cary
We do believe prayer changes things. However, a formative or ongoing prayer life, more importantly changes us. In the active side of Formation Prayer, we are pursuing God(Phil.3:12-14). In the passive side, we are being pursued by God(Jer.18). While we never want prayer to become legalistic or ritualistic, a set of guidelines to develop healthy habits, and to change us from the inside-out are welcome. One such regiment is called The Exercises and it has 4 basic elements. First, pray focusing upon our sins in the light of God's love. Secondly, pray centering on the life of Christ. Third, pray focusing on the passion of Christ. Finally, pray focusing on the resurrection. ---You could do this in a day retreat or break it upon to days or weeks.
Most of all, engage in habitual, life transforming prayer.

Friday, March 25, 2011

The Prayer of Relinquishment

As we begin to mature in our prayer life we learn an interesting progression. We go from being selfish, looking for "quick fixes", trying to manipulate God to getting on board with God's will. It is a necessary phase to get through. Don't beat yourself up. It's just one more struggle in becoming fashioned in the image of God. Let go and let God in your prayer. It is the crucifixion of the will (see.Gal.2:19-20). It is a self-emptying prayer. Meditate on Philippians 2 and note particularly Jesus emptying himself of His glory and taking up the form of a servant. It is a prayer of surrender... a prayer of abandonment of the self. You won't grow to this prayer without consistent time in God's Word. The above passages should help. Trust the character of God in your prayer...not my will but His.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

The Prayer of Tears

I can only speak for Western Culture, because that is where I live. But we don't see prayer joined with tears nearly enough in this country. The fourth type of prayer that I want to guide you in is the Prayer of Tears. What is it? It is being "cut to the heart" over our distance and offense to the goodness of God(Acts2:37). It involves weeping over our sins and the sins of the world. Jesus offered up loud cries and prayers with tears (Heb.5:7). Paul went to Asia "serving the Lord with all humility and tears."(Acts 20:31). For sure, this isn't that quick surface prayer in the morning or "now, I lay me down to sleep" at night. This is getting real with God, and seeing ourselves as we are. Paul said, "O what a wretched man I am, who will rescue me from this body of death."(Rom.7:24)Jesus was "a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief." --- The prayer of tears isn't fun. It doesn't sound encouraging, but it is liberating when we get honest before God. We get deep with God, and out of this He rescues us; and brings a deeper joy. When is the last time you shed tears before God owning your sins before Him; or cried out in prayer for others? Find a quiet place. If you need some reading to get you started, check out what Jesus went through for you by reading Isaiah 53.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

The Prayer of Examen

Unfortunately people today go to church or spend time in prayer without even getting in tune with God. They go through either one as a useless ritual. The Psalmist says,"Yahweh, you examine me and know me."-Ps.139:1. Another writer chronicles, "The LORD searches every mind, and understands every plan and thought."---1Chron.28:9.
Richard Foster says that the Prayer of Examen has two sides. The first is an examen of consciousness through which we discover how God has been present to us througout the day and how we responded to his loving presence. The second aspect is an examen of conscience where we uncover areas that need cleansing, purifying and healing.
God wants us to be present where we are. Spend time with God in the moment. Be aware of His presence. Hear and see what is around you. On a recent prayer walk, I was able to capture God's vision for our land by walking with Him and listening. Recognize God. And of course, we need to open up and invite God to search our heart and point out the areas we need cleansed and purified. (see Psalm 139:23-24)---One practical way to recognize God at work in your life is to do a spiritual journal. By doing so you can keep "God tracks." You can look back in that journal and see where God has been at work in your life. Slow down. Be still and know that He is God today.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Dark Night of the Soul

The "Dark Night of the Soul" is for real. We hear the desperate words of Jesus as he was alone on the cross "My God, my God why have you forsaken me?"-Mt.27:46b. We all come to those dry times of life, when we feel as though God does not hear our prayers, or that He has gone away. Some, who were faithful, begin to wonder about God period. One theologian called these times the "Sahara of the heart." Maybe you have been through such a time or are going through such a time. Through this time God reveals that He is not our puppet on a string. God frees us from false, idolatrous images. It is a purifying silence. In these times God rids us of religion and rituals that we have become attached to. In my own experience of such times, often my only prayer was "help." I lived my life without a doubt about God, but wondering what He was waiting on to deliver me. Had He heard my cries? So, how do we pray in such times? Reading the "Lament Psalms" (the Psalms where the writer is complaining to God) such as Ps.42:9 "Why have you forgotten me?" or Ps.109:1 "God whom I praise, break your silence?" These teach us to pray our inner conflicts and contradictions. It's like a 2yr.old pitching a fit into their Daddy's arms, to finally be comforted. God can handle your complaints. ---So what do we do during these times? Persevere. Keep on doing what you know. Pray, listen, worship.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Just Pray


For the next 20 days I'm going to send out little helps about prayer. Some of us need to get started praying, some need guidance in prayer, others need a good word to endure in prayer. I will share with you things about prayer that I have grazed from reading "Prayer" by Richard J. Foster. He, nor I, would be so presumptuous to claim to be an authority on prayer; but we can all use a little help.
One major block from prayer is this idea that everything has to be just right. We have to be in the right mood, our life has to be at a certain pinnacle, the room has to be properly lit,etc. When in fact, all we need to do is just pray. Simply pray. Talk to and listen to God. Make your requests known to the Lord, like a child talking to a parent. Don't try to sort things out, let God do that. Just pray simple prayer. All through the Psalms one can read as the Psalmist complains to God, then is encouraged by God in the same sitting.
We'll get into some deeper stuff as we go along here, but for now; don't worry about getting everything just right...just pray.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Most Spiritual Thing You Can Do

Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is getaway. Teresa and I had the opportunity to get away for a few days. There's never a good time to go, but sometimes you just have to go to remove the clutter and get refreshed. I'm thankful for a church family that can handle things while we're away. I'm sorry for anything we might have missed out on, but I'm learning you have to just go. It was good to just hang out with God and Teresa...that was my only priority. I didn't try to get caught up on a bunch of stuff, or try to get ahead. It was a joy to just hang out with God in the early mornings and Teresa the rest of the day. :) Sunday cometh...and ....I can't wait. Let's go!

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

What is this 40 Days of Prayer all about?

Ultimately it is God calling us out to pray, so we can see Him do something incredible IN us and then THROUGH us. It is time to bring the place and stuff together. God is doing amazing things through faithful people at Living Truth in this community. God has given us a nice piece of land to use as our Ministry Outpost. It is time that we pay that land off and do what we do there. God gave me the idea of getting us on the same page in prayer (Hence the 40 Days of Prayer), urging God to search out the heart of each of our members during this time culminating in what is called In Good Faith Sunday. Several prayer and land events will take place during this time (see the 40 Days of Prayer Event Schedule). First and foremost each of us will pray that God search our hearts. We want to get right with God personally during this time. At the end of the forty days (April 17-Palm Sunday), we will fill out a personal commitment card with the dollar amount that God tells us to give. There will be absolutely no pressure, no guilt, etc. All we ask is that you put the number down that God tells you. Our meager hope is to get enough in pledges to pay the land off in 18 months. On April 17th you will bring your pledge card with the amount you plan to give over the 18 months and we're calling it In Good Faith Sunday, because we want you to bring as much of that amount as you can on that Sunday. We will celebrate that together. ***Like me, you can sit down and figure out how much you can give if you do without this or sell that thing; but we don't want you to even think like that right now. ---Seek God's face in prayer during this 40 days, and ask Him what He wants you to give, and then ask Him He supposes you give that crazy amount.---I absolutely cannot wait to see what God does IN and THROUGH His people. Psalm 139:23,24 Why are we establishing a place in this community? Because Jesus matters, and we are His hands and feet! Love. Pray hard.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Psalm 50:1

The mighty God, the LORD, has spoken; he has summoned all humanity from east to west!
* I had to pull out the old Hebrew book to see if this meant what I thought. I get tired of hearing people making accusations against God...like there are people on the other side of the world that have not heard the Gospel. Indeed, there are many people groups we need to go and share the Gospel, but we are full of ourselves if we think we own it. Yes, we are to go. But like many of you that have gone to those faraway places, I met these people and they knew about Jesus. ---Just as the Psalmist writes 3,000 years ago, Almighty God has spoken to all humanity from the east to the west...meaning- everywhere. ***God has the globe covered...He would very much like you and me to talk to those next door, at work, nearby, then go as He so leads.---Pray that the Lord of the harvest will send more workers, then do what He tells you to do.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Lay Low

It is incredible to see God at work. He uses the unworthy to do His work. Our God is mighty to save! I think the dozen or so people that have been saved in just the last couple of weeks is just the tip of the iceberg of what God is going to do. I'm reminded to lay low. It's a privilege that God would let us join others in the reaping of the harvest. The seventy disciples Jesus sent out in Luke 10 were amazed of the things God allowed them to do as they were obedient to Jesus. Jesus enjoyed the moment with them but cautioned them that Satan got tossed from heaven because of pride. He told them to "lay low" (my paraphrase), "just be happy your names are written in heaven."(His phrase) Keep this in mind church as we join God at work and He does the amazing...we are witnesses in the true sense of the word. Be obedient. Watch God do the amazing, and lay low.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Can't Keep a Good Man Down

Mk.10:33-34 NLT
"Listen,"he said,"we're going up to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man will be betrayed to the leading priests and the teachers of religious law. They will sentence him to die and hand him over to the Romans. They will mock him, spit on him, flog him with a whip, and kill him, but after three days he will rise again,"
---Jesus speaking in 3rd person.* He goes forward knowing what awaits him.---Epic Hero!