A Prayer for the Journey

God,

Remind me daily why I am on this journey. Remind me that you are leading me, and as I hear Your voice, I will follow You, because I know Your voice1. You are also with me, and Your rod and staff comfort me2. Not only that, but goodness and mercy follow me all the days of my life3. That includes today.

Unless you build the house, my work is useless4 because apart from You I can do nothing. 5 May I become so busy or so slothful that I lose touch with you as the Vine. I need to remember that you call me to come to You when I am weary and heavy laden, so that You can give me rest for my soul. As I share Your yoke, I will find that Your yoke is easy and your burden is light. 6I cannot plough the furrow myself.

The good things I do today cannot save me – only grace, as Your gift to me. Thank You for this gift. I receive it with faith.7 Nevertheless, I have been created in You, Christ, for good works, prepared for me by You, Father. All this flows from my identity in You, as Your workmanship. 8 Lead me into these good works, that I may be clear that I am walking in Your will and not labouring in vain.

There will be many voices clamouring for my attention today. Over them all, may I hear Your voice, as You stand at my door and patiently knock, waiting to be invited in so we can share a meal together.9 I open that door now, inviting You in. Let all needs be addressed from this dining room; let all hearts be spoken to from this dining room; may I never leave this room to do ‘ministry’, but remind me that all ministry flows from this meal we are sharing together.

As I walk through this broken world with You today, Lord, I understand that I am chosen of You. I am holy and dearly loved. In response, I choose right now to clothe myself with compassion, with kindness, with humility, with gentleness and with patience. Strengthen me to bear with others, and remind me to forgive what ever grievances I have against others, as a pale reflection of the way You forgave me. Over all these virtues I choose to put on love which binds them all together in perfect unity. 10

Prince of Peace, may Your peace rule in my heart since, with my brothers and sisters as one body, we were called to peace. Spring up a fount of thankfulness in my heart11, for Your joy is my strength. 12

Father, in You I stand firm. In You, nothing will move me. I give myself fully, without reservation, wholeheartedly to Your work, because I know that my labour in You is not in vain13 – it has purpose, it has meaning, it has a reason, no matter how mundane, frustrating or humiliating it is.

Yours is the Kingdom, Yours is the power, Yours is the glory. Forever and ever.
Amen

1 John 10:4

2 Psalm 23:4

3 Psalm 23:6

4 Psalm 127:1

5 John 15:5

6 Matt 11:28-30

7 Eph 2:8

8 Eph 2:10

9 Rev 3:20

10 Colossians 3:12-14

11 Colossians 3:15

12 Nehemiah 8:10

13 1 Corinthians 15:58

Far from the madding crowd

You've probably heard by now the incident where Joshua Bell, world-renowned violinist played his $3 million Stradivarius in Washington subway station for 45 minutes. I think it was 2007. him. You can watch the astounding video here.

The Times online reports:

The results were astonishing, at least to Bell, who is accustomed to wowing packed concert halls of rapt listeners. Of the 1,097 people who passed him, just seven stopped to listen. A further 20 tossed coins into his fiddle case as they hurried by. Just one person recognized who Bell was. The rest of the 1,097 commuters — all 1,070 of them — walked within a few feet of this virtuoso, his priceless fiddle and the magnificent sound of Bach without any discernible reaction whatsover.

“It was a strange feeling,” Bell later recalled, “that people were actually ignoring me.” Particularly strange, I would guess, when, at the end of each piece, his playing (which usually brings standing ovations) elicited not a single clap. (to read this Times article in full, click here)

I think it's one of the pitfalls of my job, being a Pastor, but I've joined Walmart and Loblaws in starting to think about Christmas...in fact, I've been thinking about Christmas for a couple of weeks already. I've already had to say "no" to a couple of engagements, discovered that I'm double-booked for at least one event and have witnessed my December calendar getting very, very full already!

I hate when Christmas gets so full of stuff that Christ gets lost in the middle of it. He's there, on the sidelines, playing his wonderful music of grace, truth, hope and peace, as I rush by, earbuds in ears trying to figure out how I can slow down enough to spend time with Him this Christmas. If only I could stop. If only I chose to slow down. If only I decided to stay a while, breathe and whisper "Ah, there you are"

In the middle of all the expectations of the oncoming Christmas season, the only one that really counts surely is him. It's not about a season. It's not about expectations. It's not about trimmings and turkey and stuffing and presents...it's about stopping long enough, and often enough to BE with the King of Kings as He graciously welcomes into His presence.

A couple of ideas to get into a place where you can be with Christ this Christmas

• Turn the radio off in the car, and listen to the silence
• Meditate on verses of scripture throughout your day. Chew over what "Wonderul, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of peace"
  
• Set "Sacred Space" as your homepage throughout advent and intentional visit this space-making website of scriptural meditation every day.
• Listen to worship-based Christmas CDs, such as Chris Tomlin's "Glory in the Highest", Andrew Peterson's "Behold the Lamb of God" (my fave), Graham Kendrick's "Dreaming of a Holy Night" rather than the poppy, whimsical fun ones.
  

New Christian music is BLASPHEMOUS!

“There are several reasons for opposing it. One, it’s too new. Two, it’s often worldly, even blasphemous. The new Christian music is not as pleasant as the established style. Because there are so many new songs you can’t learn them all. It puts too much emphasis on instrumental music rather than Godly lyrics. This new music creates disturbances; people act indecently and disorderly. The preceding generation got along without it. It’s a money making scene and some of these new music upstarts are lewd and loose.”

How many of you agree? How many hearty "Amens"?

The author of these words is an Anglican Pastor named William Romaine and his critique was featured in An Essay on Psalmody. It was written in 1723. The “new music” he was referring to? The hymns of Isaac Watts.

It’s really easy to criticize new music, idolize old music, and demonize what you don’t like.

This was totally stolen from this blog

Cheers

Dan

I Stand By The Door

I mined yet another nugget of deep truth from my book of devotions "A guide to prayer for ministers and other servants" which I really cannot recommend highly enough. This nugget is entitled "I stand by the door" and is written by Samuel Shoemaker, who was one of the men who helped draft the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. Why I'm blogging this poem is because it causes something deep within myself to long to occupy that place at the door:

I STAND BY THE DOOR
Samuel Shoemaker

I stand by the door.
I neither go too far in, nor stay too far out,
The door is the most important door in the world-
It is the door through which people walk when they find God.
There's no use my going way inside, and staying there,
When so many are still outside and they, as much as I,
Crave to know where the door is.
And all that so many ever find
Is only the wall where a door ought to be.
They creep along the wall like blind people,
With outstretched, groping hands.
Feeling for a door, knowing there must be a door,
Yet they never find it ...
So I stand by the door.

The most tremendous thing in the world
Is for people to find that door--the door to God.
The most important thing any person can do
Is to take hold of one of those blind, groping hands,
And put it on the latch--the latch that only clicks
And opens to the person's own touch.
People die outside that door, as starving beggars die
On cold nights in cruel cities in the dead of winter—
Die for want of what is within their grasp.
They live, on the other side of it--live because they have not found it.
Nothing else matters compared to helping them find it,
And open it, and walk in, and find Him ...
So I stand by the door.

Go in, great saints, go all the way in--
Go way down into the cavernous cellars,
And way up into the spacious attics--
It is a vast roomy house, this house where God is.
Go into the deepest of hidden casements,
Of withdrawal, of silence, of sainthood.
Some must inhabit those inner rooms.
And know the depths and heights of God,
And call outside to the rest of us how wonderful it is.
Sometimes I take a deeper look in,
Sometimes venture in a little farther;
But my place seems closer to the opening ...
So I stand by the door.

There is another reason why I stand there.
Some people get part way in and become afraid
Lest God and the zeal of His house devour them
For God is so very great, and asks all of us.
And these people feel a cosmic claustrophobia,
And want to get out. "Let me out!" they cry,
And the people way inside only terrify, them more.
Somebody must be by the door to tell them that they are spoiled
For the old life, they have seen too much:
Once taste God, and nothing but God will do any more.
Somebody must be watching for the frightened
Who seek to sneak out just where they came in,
To tell them how much better it is inside.
The people too far in do not see how near these are
To leaving--preoccupied with the wonder of it all.
Somebody must watch for those who have entered the door,
But would like to run away. So for them, too,
I stand by the door.

I admire the people who go way in.
But I wish they would not forget how it was
Before they got in. Then they would be able to help
The people who have not, yet even found the door,
Or the people who want to run away again from God,
You can go in too deeply, and stay in too long,
And forget the people outside the door.
As for me, I shall take my old accustomed place,
Near enough to God to hear Him, and know He is there,
But not so far from people as not to hear them,
And remember they are there, too.
Where? Outside the door--
Thousands of them, millions of them.
But--more important for me--
One of them, two of them, ten of them,
Whose hands I am intended to put on the latch.
So I shall stand by the door and wait
For those who seek it.
"I had rather be a door-keeper ..."
So I stand by the door.

Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. (Psalm 84:10)

Essential Church?

I've started reading a book called "Essential Church? (Reclaiming a generation of dropouts)"
It's to do with the North American exodus of young adults from the church. Over the past couple of weeks, this is something that's been brought to my attention. I think perhaps it's God. I say this because I got an email in the same week I first had these thoughts and got hold of the book (but not because I was looking for it). The email was worded as follows:

"... the eAdvising/Development…it is basically a cost effective way in providing consulting, advising, and developing as it relates to Young Adult/20-30’s Ministry. Each session will be done via conference call and the web. The purpose is to assist and equip churches in finding ways that they can “retain” the 20s-30s in their local churches and “reach” them in their communities. We will look at context and culture, both within the local church and their community. Each church has it’s DNA, and we want to find out how they can uniquely reach this emerging generation for Christ!

I've suddenly started to notice and care that there seems to be something lacking between youth age and fully-fledged adulthood...namely the lack of community for young adults - the 18-30 age group. I guess I've noticed for longer than a couple of weeks - but it's crystallized in my mind just recently. I'm not talking about creating a program, but I am talking about some kind of community for the young adults who are going through so many life-changes with little or no community-base on which to anchor.

Let me just share a couple of points from the book, so you'll know where my head is right now (where it says "America / Americans", feel free to read "Canada / Canadians")

"Why do more than two-thirds of churchgoing young adults Americans leave the church? Or to ask the question positively, why do one-third of churchgoing young adult Americans stay in the church? The answer to the latter questions emerged from several years of research. Young adults are likely to stay in the church if they see church as essential to their lives. But the reality is that most churches in America are doing little to become essential to the lives of their members" (page 5 of "Essential Church")

The authors then going on to set the following structure for the rest of the book:
"Church members (of essential churches) see the local congregation as a biblical fellowship that they deem critical for their lives. The essential church has four major components.
1) The church has learned to simplify. Too many churches are filled with activities that have little coherent purpose.
2) The church moves its members to deepen their knowledge of God's word and His truths.
3) The church has high expectations of its members. When expectations are low, commitment is low.
4) An essential church is committed to helping its members multiply spiritually. Evangelism is part of the heartbeat of the church.

Taken from "Essential Church?" (Reclaiming a generation of dropouts). Written by Thom S. Rainer and Sam S. Rainer III. Published by B&H Publishing Group.

Cheers
Dan

Men, men, men, men, manly, men, men, men

Making the theme tune for "Two and a half men" the title for this blog in no way means I endorse the show (except as a hearty "How NOT to be a good example in life, love and relationships for the young men in your life who are looking to you as example and mentor").

But I do want to discuss manly men (and I think the intro to this show is pretty cool and brings a smile to my face...watch it here)...

The Background

Last week I went to a FLAME course in Denton, Maryland to study two courses towards ordination - after I complete all the course work for these two, I only have 5 left to do!! As much as FLAME is an academic venture, it is also a spiritual retreat - a chance to meet, fellowship, worship and pray with my fellow FLAMIN' brothers and sisters. In my 5 days there, I think I saw more men tear up or openly cry than I've seen for ages. And these are manly men; men, in my mind who are manly enough to cry - to overcome the barrier that so many men, including myself, encounter - the desire to appear to have it all together...the need to seem unmoved.

Men crying

I saw men cry as we heard about a school in which 300 children got swine flu and one died. One of the pastors had to go home to attend to this huge need. I saw a man cry as he shared with me that God so powerfully spoke to him through a song he was listening to on his mp3 player that he had to leave the communal room in which he was sitting to spent time crying to God in an empty adjacent room. I saw my lecturer tear up as he recounted circumstances in his life in which only God intervening could make any difference. I saw a new friend of mine tear up as he shared about God using him powerfully in evangelism. Manly men.

One evening, I sat round the supper table with some of my fellow FLAMERS and we shared with each other instances in our lives that God had made himself so real and so apparent through circumstances that reached beyond coincidence. Only God moving in a miraculous way could explain it. And guess what? Men were tearing up. Manly men.

I'm so glad you're here

One guy, who was serving so humbly in the kitchen came up to me virtually every day, put his arm around my shoulder and said “I’m so glad you’re here”. Did I know him? No. Did I feel uncomfortable because I didn’t know him? Strangely, no. I can smell insincerity a mile off, as can most of us, but there was none of that in this manly man. There was a genuine power in this man that reached across to me through his side hugs and sincere “I’m so glad you’re here”. Manly men.

My last day, my prayer group (made up of manly men) moved beyond the standing in a circle, arms by our sides to getting into a ‘rugby huddle’ and leaning into each other as we prayed. Why? Because a manly man, tears in his eyes, suggested it. Manly men.

Refreshingly manly

Am I saying that in order for us to be manly men, we need to cry? No. Am I saying that I’m going to start crying now on a regular basis? No. That’s not who I am (at least for now!)

But what I am saying is that there is something refreshingly manly about men who get beyond the usual strictures that society (or they) place on themselves (to be strong, slightly aloof, together, in check, unemotional) by allowing the Spirit of God to move them emotionally. We were not created to be Marlboro Men: solitary, alone, independent, chiseled out out of granite.

As one manly man, Paul wrote:

For I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to grieve you but to let you know the depth of my love for you. (2 Cor. 2:3)

Or how about another manly man?

My intercessor is my friend as my eyes pour out tears to God; on behalf of a man he pleads with God as a man pleads for his friend. (Job 16:20-21)

Men, men, men, men, manly, men, men, men!

Pray for our youth

This one won't be long.

09.09.09. Remember this date (it's not hard). This is our youth kick-off - "Gower Wars (Return of the Tribes)" - an evening of dressing up as a school tribe you're not usually part of, and generally having fun. This event needs to be covered with prayer...that our Sovereign God would lead the teens who are hungry and thirsty for truth and relationship to this event. That the Holy Spirit would be present and moving throughout this event.
16.09.09. The beginning of youth (proper). We're starting a series called "Surviving School" but of course the whole point is to MORE than survive - through encountering Christ and His life-changing message of sins forgiven and our relationship restored with God through the cross. Please pray that this isn't about making "good non-Christians" but about God raising up youth who are passionate for Him and passionate about taking up their cross everyday. Good non-Christians are still going to hell.

In addition:
Please pray for who the youth leadership team is going to be this fall. God knows and God will bring the right people on board. Pray for our current youth leaders and the ones to become youth leaders. Pray for a God-sized vision for them for Unashamed Youth and their role in this kingdom ministry.

Lastly, please pray for me. Why? Because my default mode is to run a youth program. Any monkey can do that. Pray that God keeps me FAR from default, far from the land of SAME-OLD, SAME-OLD, far from STATUS QUO, and that He keeps on instilling in me a) my sufficiency in Him and b) his vision for the youth of North Gower and surrounding area.

Nothing less will do. Because "nothing less" revolves around me. I need your prayers. Unashamed Youth needs your prayers.

• If you want to get on board as part of the weekly prayer team, let me know.
• If you want to get on board by lending us your van every once in a while, let me know.
• If you want to get on board by giving of yourself as a youth leader, let me know.

The teens don't need empty religion. They need a butt-kicking, self-denying, Satan-confronting, soul-loving, in-world but not of-world, divine relationship.

Cheers
Dan