daily walk Posts

Revolutionary Prayer

14 Oct , 2011 1 Comment

An elderly Jewish man had been praying at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem for Arabs and Jews to stop their fighting. Someone asked him, “How long have you been praying?” “50 years” “How do you feel, praying for that long and the fighting continues?” “Like I’m talking to a brick wall.”

Have you ever felt like that guy? Let’s all just get real honest- we’ve all struggled with prayer. We’ve all felt guilty for not praying enough, we’ve all doubted the reality of prayer and we’ve all wondered if God really answers prayer. We’ve all walked through seasons of prayerlessness and the truth be known many of us pray very little.

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8

In Matthew 7:7-8, Jesus teaches us that the main reason for unanswered prayer is prayerlessness.

In his classic work, With Christ in the School of Prayer, Andrew Murray writes, “Moses gave neither command nor regulation with regard to prayer: even the prophets say little directly of the duty of prayer. It is Christ who teaches us to pray.”

What is prayer? Prayer is communication and communion with God. Again, only in Christ do you find a relationship, a friendship, communion with God.

Why pray? The purpose of prayer is to develop my relationship and intimacy with Christ and align my life up to His will.
I’ve thought about my relationship with Stacy (think about anyone you love)- my relationship with her has very little to do with asking her to do things for me. It’s really all about expressing my love for her, just being with her, getting to know her, and asking, “How can I love you more?” This is the kind of intimacy our Lord Jesus seeks with us:

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” Revelation 3:20

Why don’t we pray? The main reason we do not pray is our own self-sufficiency. We think we do not need our Lord’s help.

Common Misconceptions of Prayer:

1. Prayer doesn’t work.
That’s another way of saying that God doesn’t answer my prayers. What happens is some of us have prayed and we think God hasn’t answered our prayers so we assume that He must not answer anyone’s prayers. We hear testimony of answered prayers and we think, “That didn’t happen. That was just a coincidence.” Well, for those who have discovered the adventure of prayer, we know that it’s sure interesting how many coincidences start happening when we pray.
“I call on you, O God, for you will answer me; give ear to me and hear my prayer.” Psalm 17:6 It’s been said, “When we work, WE work, when we pray, GOD works.”

2. Prayer is breaking down the reluctance of God.
Prayer is not getting beyond God’s reluctance; it is laying hold of His highest willingness.

“If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him!” Matthew 7:11

3. Prayer is not necessary. Again, prayer is the essence of the Christian life because the Christian life is all about a passionate pursuit of intimacy of relationship with Christ. It’s the ONE thing you’ve been called and the ONE thing you must devote your attention to.

4. Prayer is about asking God for what I want.
Johnny had been misbehaving and was sent to his room. After a while he emerged and informed his mother that he had thought it over and then said a prayer. “Fine,” said the pleased mother. “If you ask God to help you not misbehave, He will help you.” “Oh, I didn’t ask Him to help me not misbehave,” said Johnny. “I asked Him to help you to able to put up with me.” We need to move from selfish prayers. We struggle with our needs vs. our wants.

“When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” James 4:3

5. Prayer must be eloquent.
The most common prayer in the Bible is the simple prayer. A quick study of the prayers in the Bible reveals raw, heartfelt, and desperate prayers are the most common.

“And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.” Matthew 6:7
One night Will’s parents overheard this prayer. “Now I lay me down to rest, and hope to pass tomorrow’s test, if I should die before I wake, that’s one less test I have to take.” Raw, heartfelt, honest prayer is the prayer of a child of God. All of these misconceptions are hindrances to prayer but:

6. The most common hindrance to unanswered prayer: Prayerlessness.
“…you do not have, because you do not ask God.” James 4:2
When we pray, according to His will, His character, His “name”, God answers our prayers- 100% of the time.

“I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.” John 16:23-24

The Kingdom of God and the Gospel of Grace

30 Sep , 2011 1 Comment

“Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:10

What does it mean for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven? Throughout the Gospels we read that Jesus came “proclaiming” and “bringing”- (enacting) the kingdom of God. This coming kingdom was accompanied by healing and great acts of compassion. Jesus begins the Sermon on the Mount with the Beatitudes- a description of kingdom people. Most parables begin with the words, “The kingdom of God is like”. This kingdom is wherever and whenever the King reigns and some day, because of His completed salvific work on the cross His Kingdom will come on the New Earth exactly as it is in heaven.
It should be OBVIOUS from an honest reading of the Gospels that Jesus expected His disciples (US) to master the lessons He taught and actually LIVE a kingdom life- to actually practice illogical acts of compassion, unreasonable amounts mercy and stunning amounts of forgiveness. Clearly this Gospel of the kingdom of God… is a Gospel of grace. This Good News is that in God’s kingdom GRACE abounds. It’s Christ’s vision of the world and how it should be AND how it WILL be. If Christianity is about anything, it is about forgiveness. It is about grace. If we are to live as kingdom people, we need a recovery, a re-discovery of the core- the central- Message of Jesus- the FOCUS of the Christian faith: forgiveness. Indeed, in our best moments the gracious melody of forgiveness is heard as the recurring theme of our faith. The kingdom of God is a place where GRACE abounds.

The Kingdom comes when grace abounds. The parable of Jesus – like the story of the Vineyard workers in Matthew 20 leave the listener with head-scratching disbelief- how is it that one could work all day and another work for one hour and ALL receive the same compensation? Jesus taught “the new math of grace”. It’s not about human merit; but about divine forgiveness. It’s not about earning wages- in the kingdom of God the last are first, the weak are strong and there IS NO counting. Living in the kingdom, Jesus says, is not about religious moralism; it’s about a complete reorientation to the Gospel of grace.

What is grace?
Justice is getting what you deserve. Could’ve started with the word “revenge”- which we see a lot of in our world- that’s when someone does you wrong and you pay back with more than what you deserve.
Mercy is not getting what you deserve. Now, James tells us that mercy triumphs over justice (James 2:12).
Grace is getting what you don’t deserve.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9

“God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21
To live the grace-filled life means that we see grace- not simply as a means toward salvation but as a WAY of LIFE. That’s why you’ve been forgiven- so that you might LIVE forgiven. Grace demands a radical love and a forgiveness- in the final analysis forgiveness is an act of faith. I’m trusting God to be a better justice-maker than I am. Too often we know we should forgive, we want to forgive, we almost forgive, but in the end we realize we cannot forgive- we are too just. My need for justice trumps my ability to forgive. But in James 2:13 the Bible says that, “Mercy triumphs over justice”.
“The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 5:20-21
So, among God’s people, grace “abounds” (it overflows, it thrives, it increases). How does it “abound”, increase? It abounds, it thrives through us as God’s people when we extend grace to others.
Luke 14:15-24 Jesus tells the story of the Master who is planning a grand banquet and he tells his servants to go and invite certain people to come. One by one they offer excuses and say that they cannot come. The Master opens the invitation up to all and extends as invitation to the banquet to the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame. The kingdom comes when grace abounds!

Grace abounds when…
1. We embrace God’s forgiveness. When God forgives He sees you as though your sin never happened. Can you forgive like that? You never will- until you realize that change won’t happen through ‘trying harder’ but only through encountering the radical grace of God. There is so much in your future but you’ve got to leave the past behind you! You need to bury the past- what could’ve been, what should’ve been, and how justice must be served in the life of that individual who has hurt you.
“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32

2. We become agents of God’s forgiveness. Christians sometime believe in a theology of grace but not a lifestyle of grace. Grace abounds when we take on the heart of Jesus. As kingdom people we are administrators of grace dispensers of His grace- we peddle, (we tout, we push) grace… here’s the picture of a kingdom person: wherever they go, they are so filled up with God’s grace- it abounds, it overflows, it spills over on to everyone they encounter. Have you ever met someone like that? Here’s how you spot them: they are kind to everyone. In fact, to the point that it doesn’t make sense- if grace doesn’t make you say, “Wait a minute…that CAN’T be right”, it’s not grace. Because grace, by it’s very nature is NOT fair. It is a most unnatural act. Grace-filled people have lots of friends- and lots of friends who don’t look like them. Following Jesus will always take you into relationships that make you uncomfortable.”
Grace-filled people are joy-filled people. Grace-givers are FUN to be around. They’re the people you want at your party. In fact, they know how to party! Don’t miss this: Jesus is saying the kingdom of God is like a party. It’s a feast! And why is it that so many Christians are unhappy, tight, grumpy, and solemn?! They have never truly embraced God’s grace. Because grace-filled people are constantly overwhelmed by the grace they’ve received from God- so much so, they want you to experience as well- so they show you what grace looks like. You can spot grace-givers. Are you one of them?

3. We decide to include everyone- especially those who are undeserving. We must determine that we will include everyone in this kingdom party. Everyone is invited to be a recipient of my love. I will show NO discrimination as I dispense this grace that I have been given.

4. We introduce others to the Grace-giver Jesus.
Everyone is welcome… the kingdom of God is all-inclusive (or more correctly- exclusive to those who come undeserving, humble, and contrite before God.
As we apply this as a church family- we’ve said that as kingdom people- we are a Gospel-centered church- and this Gospel is the Gospel of grace. Grace leads to inclusion (the central point of this parable in Luke Grace leads to diversity which should lead to more grace. That’s the Church!

A sign you’re growing in grace: You realize Jesus ALWAYS writes stories of mercy, of grace, compassion, and reconciliation bigger than you would. Join Him in writing a story of grace today.

A Shadow of Heaven

25 Feb , 2011 1 Comment

One of the great blessings of being a pastor is that I am reminded daily of what really matters in life. Today I sat down with a precious family to plan the memorial service of their loved one. Our conversation jumped from here to there, earth to heaven, the temporary to the eternal, the already and the not yet.

I believe that every day we’re given glimpses of heaven. Whether we catch them or not is entirely up to us. It seems even the worst among us catch glimpses of the eternal: something more, something beautiful, something sacred. I’m sure I’m not the only one who hears the rumblings of something eternal among us. Milton’s question echoes across time, “What if earth be but a shadow of heaven?”4 Why does every culture in the world worship Someone or at least something? Philip Yancey notes in his book, Rumors, “Alone of all the beasts, the human animal has the power and freedom to center life in one impulse. We have not, it seems, the power to abstain from worship.”5

What is that within us? Is it simply the result of some evolutionary process that has created within us this God-consciousness, this desire to exalt Someone who is beyond us? Or could it be that God Himself really has “set eternity in the hearts of men” (Ecclesiastes 3:11)? Could it be we really do have a kind of “homing device” that calls us onward to seek, to search, to desire? In his classic book, Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis writes, “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”6 The fact that we have such longings doesn’t prove that God is the One prompting us or that eternity awaits, but I believe our longing for Heaven whispers to us in our joy and it seems to scream at us in our despair that something else is coming. And Someone else is writing this already-but-not-yet narrative.

Surely we all long for more. When Jesus prayed for the Father to set all things right by bringing His kingdom to earth (Matthew 6:10), He was calling for a present and future reality. “Thy kingdom come” should be the cry of every believer’s heart. As we join God in His restorative agenda we become the answer to the prayers of our Lord. The present life is but a shadow of heaven. You and I are not yet free from sin, but we do have the capacity within us (by the power of His Spirit) to reach our fullest redemptive potential. Live today with the end in sight. He is making everything new (Revelation 21:5).

Making Resolutions- James 4:13-17

02 Jan , 2011 2 Comments

As we make resolutions at this time of the year it’s important that we do not miss the first step in setting goals. Too often we make plans and then ask God to bless them. James calls this arrogance. It’s a practical atheism (believing in God but living as if He doesn’t exist). Most of us do not think of ourselves as boastful people, because we do not go around making people listen to our bragging. As a good discipler, however, James makes us examine more subtle forms of boasting. Our arrogance is revealed when we assume that we control time and events. By using the categories that James offers in Chapter 4:13 we can see how comprehensively we do this.

James challenges 4 categories that reveal our arrogance when:
1. We name the TIME- “Today or tomorrow”.
2. We state our PURPOSE- “we will go”
3. We name the PLACE “to this or that city”
4. We state our GOALS “to carry on business”
5. We name our REWARD “make money”

What else is there than time, purpose, place, goals, and reward?

So are we not supposed to plan? Notice he does not say “don’t plan”. In vs. 15 he says, “Instead”… plan this way… “if it is the Lord’s will”. As a pastor, of all the questions I’m asked, the most common centers around God’s will. “What is God’s will for my life?” “How can I know God’s will for my life?” “How can I discover God’s will for my life?” This is a question we all ask- but we don’t realize that we’re actually asking the wrong question. This question actually betrays our arrogance and the self-centered nature of prayer. What is God’s will for my life is overshadowed by a more important question. The better question is not, “What is God’s will for my life?” but simply, “What is God’s will?” I’ve discovered this question brings much greater clarity to what God would have me do. Now some may say I’m wrestling in semantics, but I think not…

The KEY question: “Lord, what is Your will?” Here’s the power and greater clarity of this question: We already know what His will is. His will is for you to know Him, to receive His grace and to love Him with all our heart, soul mind, and strength. His will is for you to grow to become just like Jesus. His will is for you to allow Him to continually transform you into His likeness. His will is for you to show His love to the world- starting right where you are. His will is for you to worship Him, become His disciple, and to live as a missionary for His glory everywhere you go.

What is God’s will? To give your life fully to Him- regarding TIME, PURPOSE, PLACE, GOALS, and REWARDS- they are ALL in His hand. That’s His will and that’s His will for your life. As for where you live, where you go, what you will say, and who you will encounter along the way- simply trust Him with all of that. In short, His will is for you to be His disciple.

Read Luke 9:23-25. The call to discipleship is an ever-expanding release of my life to Him. How counter-intuitive this is to our way of living, how counter-cultural. In this upside down kingdom the call is to self-denial and to a glorious release of all we are to become the very best of all that God has created us to be, all to HIS glory. I become fully “me” when I release all things that I have planned for myself.

Read Jeremiah 29:11. “I know the plans I have for you…” Notice: They are His plans and He knows them. So, the key question seems to be “How do I know His plans?” It is by seeking Him with my whole heart. It’s good to note: ultimately the journey is not to a place of position but to a Person. It’s in knowing HIM that I know His ways. In the end- Our calling is not to a place or to a plan or a position but to a Person- Jesus Christ. We can make resolutions but the highest calling of our lives is to Jesus Himself. He said, “Come, follow ME.”

The Gospel alone can empower this kind of shift- from my will to His will. Jesus gave up all control so that we can know everything is under control. When we see the King of creation losing control upon the cross, our fears are destroyed and our courage rises up- because of His love and because of the hope of resurrection!

Here’s my challenge: Leave the broken, irreversible past in His hands and step out into an invincible future with Him. Give your life fully to Him.
Why not now?

Pastor: follower, leader, servant, debtor

02 Oct , 2010 3 Comments

I’ve been called to be a pastor.  Paul wrote, “It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers…” “Pastors and teachers is actually one word in the Greek- it could be said, “shepherd/instructor”.  Clearly my first calling is not to a position or a place but to a Person.  My highest calling (like any believer) is to Jesus Himself.  My role as a pastor is love God with all my heart and to love others- more than I love myself.  My task as a pastor is to communicate God’s vision for His church and to shepherd the people as together we accomplish the mission God.

“The first task of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say, “thank you”. In between the leader is a servant and a debtor.” Max Depree

I love Max Depree’s definition of the role of a leader.  My first task is to tell the Truth- whether people want to hear it or not.  The Bible gives us His truth.  And I know that I am a servant and that I indebted to anyone who will allow me to lead. It was Andy Stanley who said, “leadership is a stewardship, it’s temporary, and you’re accountable”.  All of us are accountable before God Almighty for the vocation (“calling”) He has given us.

My primary role is to stay close to Jesus. My highest calling is to Christ Himself- to stay so close to Him, to listen to Him and obey Him in my role as pastor.  The priorities of my life will be guided by Scripture: God first, my wife second, my family, and my ministry.  I will live openly and authentically before you. I follow the apostles example in Acts 6:1-4. I will devote my life to prayer and to my personal walk with Jesus Christ. This is true for me- but it is true of you as well- as a parent, a friend, a co-worker, a classmate… if you’re not walking closely with Jesus, everyone around you becomes a victim of your unspiritual life.

I long to walk so closely with Jesus that I could join Paul who said, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.”  1 Corinthians 11:1 Copy me as I copy Jesus.  The pastor’s role is to point everyone to Jesus. I don’t want to waste my life- and I know you don’t want to either.  God is calling us into this great adventure that is His redemptive mission- to bring hope and healing to our world.  If a church can determine to align all things (both personally and corporately) with His mission, that church will change the world.  Let the journey begin.