I am constantly amazed with the way God seems to enrich my life.  I have played a small part recently in the development of a young adult fellowship in my church.  It was sorely needed so that relationships, growth, and  discipleship could be established among the few couples and singles that we have in attendance.  A few of them did not have a lot of opportunities for these things in church because of worldly interference such as work and children or mission interference such as working in the children’s departments and ministries.

The new group has a name and it is The Bridge.  This name was chosen because a bridge is something that connects.  A few people in my church have looked at this new group with concern, having let their minds go to thoughts such as division, separation or even revolution.  The Bridge has none of these things as an agenda.  The Bridge is a place for fellowship, for accountability, for biblical discussion amongst peers, and simply to celebrate our King in a way that is relevant to their age group.  As a bridge it is decidedly connective.  Connecting the individuals in this group to each other and the group to the lost in the community of like mind and interest and finally to the older generations in our church are the main goals we have in mind.  As one of the group, Wayne, put it; The Bridge is an addition and not a subtraction in our church.

Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Heb 10:25NIV

As some of you already know, I used to be a loner.  I was introverted and pretty much hated everyone.  Then I met Jesus and entered his Kingdom as a child and servant of God and started the process of change.  As all of us know, God sometimes makes supernatural changes in us in certain ways immediately but he seems to do this in various ways.  Some may be miraculously delivered from addictions to tobacco for instance while another may not.  One way I was not changed was in my attitude towards assemblies, groups, fellowships, and even church.

I immediately started going to church but only for the Word of God, not for the people.  I would be the first to my vehicle when church was over, waiting sometimes not very patiently for my wife to finally be ready to leave.  I did not need anyone but Jesus and that was fine with me.  The roles have now reversed.  My wife often is waiting on me.  Somewhere along the line in my concerted attempt to love everyone, a bridge was built.  I was connected to the rest of the Body.

As the verse in Hebrews states, we all need to be connected to each other and never stop meeting or assembling with each other.  Why is this so important?

The main reason is, of course, the mission.  We are not a bunch of spiritual Rambo’s, furtively making our way through the jungles of life attacking all the spiritual forces we find aligned against us.  We are instead part of a unit of elite, trusted soldiers that must train, fight, and rest together.  The enemy is out there and he likes nothing better than finding one of us cut off and alone.  We cannot make it alone, even if God is there with us, simply because God decided long ago to work through us.  And the work he does through us is for others, not ourselves.

Another reason is the thing that brought this post about.  We need each other for the joy it can bring.  The relationships between believers enrich us, fulfill us, and mature us.  I was pretty good at being alone at one time.  But most of you probably don’t need to be told, being alone is not very fun or fulfilling.  Some of you also know the terrible, depressing feelings that come from loneliness.  I no longer fight depression.

And love is simply amazing.  Not the emotion but the true attribute called agape.  Intentional love, as it grows from being something we make ourselves do, to something we want to do, and finally to that thing we just do, does so much good for each of us individually and for the Kingdom that it just naturally spills over and flows out.  It is contagious.  It is life changing.  It is life enhancing.  It is rewarding and enriches not only ourselves but others, and especially the Body of Christ.

We need each other and even more so as we see the Day approaching because the enemy’s activities are ramping up.  I believe the final onslaught is here.  For our adversary, it is all or nothing.  We must stand and even more, continue to advance the Kingdom and we cannot do it or make it alone.

Build a bridge.  Be a bridge.  Protect your bridge.

Blowing up bridges is one way all enemies seek to divide and conquer.

Love you all

Tags: accountability, Believe, Body of Christ, Church, Enemy, Fellowship, jesus, joy, Kingdom, Life, loner, Love, mission, peers, Relationships, Relevant, Servant, Trust, Work

My pastor is retiring at the end of this month.  This saddens me because he is not only a great man of God; he is the only pastor I have had.  No one really enjoys change much but the leader of a church leaving can raise concerns and even cause some arguments and dissension in a local body of believers.  There have been some questions raised because of a new young adult fellowship that has been initiated.  I have also played a part in the establishment of this group.  And I am assuring anyone that reads this that we are not doing or saying anything to cause division.  Wayne, one of this group put it exactly the way all should see it.  He said The Bridge (our group) is an addition, not a subtraction.  We want to help each other and the unchurched in these age ranges in our community.

The church has started the process of determining who will take up the mantle of our pastor and move this congregation forward.  We all seem to have different ideas about what we think we want in a pastor but the question should be what do we need.  Every church is different and has different ministry opportunities and finds itself in the middle of different communities.  No two will need the same things.  But I want to ask a few questions here today for discussion.  A lot of my commentators go to my church but not all.  And I know there are other readers.  I ask that all respond.  These questions are not just about my church.

What role does age play into your choice?

Do you think a couple with children living at home would be a positive or a negative choice?  Why?

How important is “style” to you?  This is meant in relation to their preaching.

Would you want someone you have known previously to be your pastor?

How much education should the pastor have?

Would you want a single pastor?  Why or why not?

Should someone in your local assembly (church) have the first shot?

Do you have any special requirements you are looking for?

These are just a few that I am wondering about for now.  If the comments come I may add more as they warrant.  I am not looking for the things we should all be in agreement about already.  We all know we need someone with integrity and anointing, someone that is a student of the bible, and someone that is filled with the Spirit and operates in His gifts.  These and other such things are not what I am looking for.  I am looking for practical things that you are interested in.

This is not for comments that are meant to demean anyone.  Jesus is monitoring this discussion with me.

Love you all

Tags: Bible, Church, congregation, Discussion, dissension, Fellowship, Love, man of god, ministry, pastor, style, town hall, War

Jesus began his ministry in prayer and ended it in prayer.  He prayed in the mornings and He prayed in the evenings.  He spent days in prayer, and He prayed at all the crucial points in His life and ministry; at his baptism, at his transfiguration, at his death.  Jesus wanted to maintain the relationship He had with His Father.  And He knew that while He was here, prayer was the only means for this.

Does prayer matter?

Jesus believed it did.  He prayed about everything and he prayed all the time.  The Romans of the time prayed and kept charms for good luck but they didn’t really expect their prayers to do anything.  The Greeks derided prayer, weaving crude, ridiculous and sometimes obscene prayers into plays and theater to bring out laughter in their audience. But those stubborn Jews believed that they followed the supreme and loving God and that He did hear and answer their prayers.  Prayer matters because we need that communion with God.  It matters because without it, God will ultimately not be able to bring about His will in our lives.  The Bible is the place we go to understand and get a glimpse of the mind of God.  But prayer is where we get to know His heart.

Jesus offers us no metaphysical proof of the effectiveness of prayer, but He not only prayed, He told the disciples on at least one occasion that they failed in their attempts to heal a boy because of a lack of prayer.  If we are going to believe Jesus then we must believe that prayer works and it matters.  Just not necessarily in the way we want at all times.  If we pray we may not get what we want, but oftentimes we get something we need.  Peter once prayed for food and got a lesson in racism, Paul asked for healing and received humility, we ask for relief and get patience.

Are prayers always answered?

No.  I know they are heard but that does not mean they are answered.  Jesus prayed that we would all be one as He and the Father were one yet we have over 34,000 distinct and identifiable denominations and sects of Christianity today.  Sometimes we ourselves hinder even the prayers that God would love to bring about. Unanswered prayer sometimes shows us a God that actually restrains himself due to the freedom he has granted us.  God respects our free will so much he allows things to play out naturally sometimes.  Even though when we are faced with some seriously dire situations we sometimes would like to give up that very freedom.

In God’s creation project, He built in this component that we call free will so that we could share in the maintenance and direction of the project.  He knew we could, and I think He knew we probably would; fail in our area of authority.  But He wanted free, loving relationships with us above all else.  And no matter how happy a five point Calvinist gets at the thought of God’s Omni-control, that just does not show us a loving God.  It shows us a puppet master instead.  God really wants relationships with real people not puppets.

Jesus taught us that prayer was necessary to maintain this relationship with our Father.  Prayer is ultimately only a method of communion with God and this is what Jesus modeled for us.  God desires a dynamic relationship with all of us and the only way that will occur is with consistent, persistent prayer. We pray to involve God in our lives.  Ministry, family, jobs, etc are all areas where we ask God to be there for us and to strengthen us.  But sometimes it has to be just about being with Him.  Our ministries are our calling but our callings came after the Fall.  Before that we had fellowship with God.  We were created for fellowship with God.  And since the Fall, prayer is the method of maintaining that fellowship.

Prayer involves an effort of will.  I must decide to do it and like anything else, doing it consistently will make it become a habit instead of a planned event, a joy instead of effort.  We must all pray and we must do it our way.  If I try to pray like Pastor or some of you I am only setting myself up for failure.  And while I believe it is good to start the day off and end the day talking to God it is not always that deep meaningful communion that I desire.  That has to happen when each of our hearts and our lifestyles dictate.

But it must happen.  Have you talked to your Father today?

Love you all

Tags: Bible, Calvin, Christ, communion with god, Father, Fellowship, Free will, greeks, Love, Prayer, Relationships, romans

We are all different and amazingly, God will use us right where we are.  We all have a story, and my story is a part of His story, because He wants it that way.

So I want to talk about my first prayer. Three days and seven years ago, I was a little like Robinson Crusoe.  That is a story with part of its focus being about how Robinson, a man shipwrecked for 28 years, becomes closer to God, not through listening to sermons in a church but through spending time alone amongst nature, with only a Bible to read.  He gets close to God through Communion with God and through prayer.

There I was, castaway on my island, alone in an apartment in Hoover with no one but God for three days after the incident where He introduced Himself to me.  The alcohol was gone, the wrestling with who He was, was over, the long phone conversation with Tammy that afternoon was finished.  I was finally sure of who He was.  And at some time I simply fell to my knees in that apartment, on that hard carpet covered concrete floor.

I did not quietly ask Jesus into my heart and seek His forgiveness.  Instead, I slammed my head into the floor a number of times, crying and railing out at God for doing this all now, at this time, when I was alone and was done with life.  Why wait for so long to come and reveal Himself to me.  Everything I worked for was gone.  The one relationship I had cared about was over.  Why now?  I can’t even remember all of the words that I yelled, or all the questions I asked, but I did start to cry at some point.  Tears soaked my face and covered my shirt.  I had never cried like this and had actually not cried very much at all for most of my life.  It was like all of my tears had been dammed up and now the dam was busted wide open.

At some point, I knew that He was there with me.  God had shown up and I realized He was not really giving me answers but He was there to wipe away the tears and get an answer.  I gave Him one, I said yes.

Those early days were filled with prayers.  They were answered prayers.  It was like when a newborn baby cries out and the parents respond as if life depends on it and it does actually.  Newborns are helpless.  Even a little thing like getting too chilled can have life threatening impact on their small fragile persons.  We are that way also when we first enter the Kingdom.  Born again as new spiritual beings we are newborns ourselves.  So fragile, but our Father is nothing else if He is not the proud, protective Father that is there to make sure nothing comes against us.

As I aged a little and started to learn things prayer became a little less rewarding or fulfilling.  It was because I lost some of the childlike simplicity in which I viewed prayer.  I started to feel that it was time I learned to do prayer right.

Then, as we all grow up, or start to, we become like teenagers.  We know it all and don’t feel the need to learn from our Father.  We stop praying as much as we used to and when we do, it is usually just to get something.  All teens rebel to some degree.  Even the best of children defy their parents in some small way with most going much farther.  We do it with our heavenly Father also.  We come to a point where we only look to Him for what He can provide.

But then we hopefully come to the place where we once again see him for who He is and appreciate Him for the simple fact that He loves us and we love Him.  This is where we all should be today.

Some of you may be struggling to pray.  Some of you may not even see the need to pray, except maybe at church.  Some of you may feel that you have what you need, so why pray?  All of these things come from a misunderstanding about what prayer is and how necessary it is, for us personally and for the story of creation and the Kingdom to advance.

What is personal prayer?

As we look across the landscape of scripture, we find many examples or personal prayer and we find many ways of praying.  Who are some of the major pray-ers in the bible?  Remember that prayer happens in a number of ways.  Adam had conversations with God in the garden, Abraham bargained with God, Moses argued, Job railed, Jacob wrestled, Samuel listened in the quiet of the night, the disciples talked to Christ face to face.  We can look in the bible and what we find mostly is personal prayer.  The records of group prayer or church prayer just don’t come close to the amount of people we see on their faces before God individually.  Look at Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel or any of the prophets.  Look at Jesus and the Apostles.  Especially look at Paul.  All of his writings show us a man who prayed.  Sometimes in the middle of his discourse he would break out in prayer.  All of these examples show us something about this relationship with God.  They show us that it is real and it is dynamic.  Not only does he want children, friends, servants and soldiers, he wants partners.

History and the bible show us a God who gives away or shares his power.  Even in the Old Testament we see a God who waits, intervenes, then waits some more for his people to do or make the right choices.  Even today Gods Spirit whispers instead of shouts, trying to align us with the program.

God has partnered with us and has ordained prayer as the means to discuss His will and achieve His will on earth.  That is why ultimately we should pass from a childlike prayer life, utterly depending on Him, to that of requests and petition as teens do, then  to a relational type prayer where we want fellowship with the creator, and finally to a place where His will is what we ultimately want above all else.  We achieve this level when we get to the place where we truly realize who He is and become the partners in creation He want us to be.

Ever since God created and placed Adam in charge of the garden, He actually seems to do very little in creation without the likes of you and me.  When I used to ask, “What is God doing?” I should have asked, “What are Gods people doing?”  Do you realize that according to scripture, those we pray for, Christ prays for?

Although the reformed people would have us believe that God does not change, or ever change his mind, the bible actually shows us that He does and is always willing to if we ask.  Look at Abraham and Sodom and Gomorrah, look at Moses and numerous times while leading the Israelites, look at Jonah and Nineveh, look at Hezekiah and his request for additional years of life.  God even told Jeremiah three times to stop praying because He did not want to change his mind about the rebellious nation of Israel.

Prayer works and prayer is important if any of Gods will is going to be achieved on this planet.  We should be praying like our life depends on it.  We should be persistent and relentless in asking God to bring about His will and His purposes on this planet.  This is how we become those partners, those workers in the fields that God not only so desperately wants, but that He actually needs.  Our persistence shows God we are serious about a thing and that we are willing to do our part.  When you really want something, what do you do?  Are you that persistent in prayer?

It is easy to be a child of God.  Are you ready to become a partner in His-story?

Love you all

Tags: alcohol, Conversation, Creation, Father, Fellowship, jesus, Kingdom, knees, Personal, Prayer, relationship, robinson crusoe, Self, Servant, Work