Prayer

"We take up our prayer with flighty thoughts, willy-nilly, and rush to get it over with, as if it were an incidental, though unavoidable, bother--- and not the center of our life, as it should be"
Theophan the Recluse

This is convicting and I must admit that I am often guilty as charged.

STOP!

Come away from rush and hurry

To the stillness of God's peace

From our vain ambition's worry

Come to Christ to find release

Come away from noise and clamor

Life's demands and frenzied pace

Come to join the people gathered

Here to seek and find God's face

This is the first verse to a hymn written by Marva J. Dawn.

We live in a fast paced time.  Our country is a nation that expects and demands busyness.  Working hard is a good thing and an important part of holistically living for God.

But for many, we have denied our need to rest.  We struggle to stop.

In the Old Testament, God instituted the Sabbath which comes from the root meaning "to cease".  Yet today we often act like there is no need to stop.  We wear terms like tired, exhausted, or drained as badges of honor to validate our worth or even our spiritual life.

Yet the fact that these terms exist should be reminders in themselves that we have limits and need to honor God by honoring those human limitations.

Could I suggest that stopping might be an honorable thing? Would it be stretching to propose that resting can be a spiritual act of service to God?  Am I being outrageous to say, that being too busy is actually a boast of pride against the sufficiency of God Himself?

Do you need to cease?  Have you taken time to stop lately?  When do you regularly rest?

Striving to live for God

Asceticism is "an austere, simple way of life in which persons renounce material pleasures and devote their energy to moral or religious purpose".  Many today think of giving things up that they enjoy as a bad thing.   Most don't have enough concern for personal spiritual growth to consider releasing some of their own pleasures.

Bradley Holt suggests that "a biblical asceticism leads to a healthy sense of being able to say no to a good thing for the sake of a better or higher one; it gives self-confidence while enabling people to serve others."


Is there anything that God is leading you to forsake for the purpose of knowing Him more?

Time to follow Jesus

Any human tragedy is hard.  For those who are poor, tragedy can be overwhelming. 

All of us our aware of the devastation that the earthquake in Haiti has caused.  As has been widely reported, this country is extremely poor.  This makes matters even worse.  Think of the slow response to a disaster like Katrina and that happened in America with our endless resources. 

It is time to follow Jesus.  The people of God need to be involved.  It is wrong to ignore such a tragedy.  We must start by caring.  Sometime it is hard to even have compassion with the 24/7 bombardment with crime, death, disaster, etc.  But this is huge and God's people will be known for our compassion for the poor. 

Everyone must do something.  Give if you can.  I give through World Relief, but there are many good options.  Pray.  Even if you feel that you cannot give you can prayer.  Go?  Maybe God is calling you to be a part of a group to go and serve the people of Haiti.

It is time to follow Jesus.

Forsaking our independence

Our country was founded partially because of a document called the Declaration of Independence.  I find it interesting that as Americans this could almost be our national motto now.

Americans are known for individualism and freedom.  We love it.  We are caught up in the idea of our own rights.  We love freedom.  We love opportunity.  We love independence and so we declare independence.

But God has called the people of God to be different.  We are citizens of the kingdom of God first and secondly to the USA.  As a result, we are to declare our dependence instead of our independence. 

We are dependent on God.  We are dependent on others.

God calls His people to forsake individualism and embrace community.  This is what makes the church distinct.  People living life together.  People making decisions together.  People care for the need of others together.  I could say: people spending their own  money to provide food or healthcare for others, but then you might think that I am getting political.

This is not about politics.  This is about the church putting a proper value on community.  We have bought into the lie of indivualism.  We have made our declaration of independence.   We need to repent and declare that we are dependent.

Are you caught up in the American value of independence?

Lecrae's testimony

Here is a link to Lecrae sharing his testimony on the 700 club.  I thank God for stories of God's grace in peoples lives.

The Blind Side

I recently saw the very popular movie The Blind Side.  I must admit that it was a very intriguing story.  But the whole thing left me a bit unsettled.

In summary, the movie is about a family who takes in a young man who is a ward of the state.  They offer him a home and eventually adopt him into their family.  The compassion that is modeled is compelling.  Their actions are portrayed as flowing from their faith since faith is shown as central to the family and their kids attend a Christian school.  The young man eventually gets a college scholarship to play football and is now in the NFL.

But the movie also left me asking a lot of questions that are still quite unsettling to me.

Was this man's dignity stripped of him in showing his story on the big screen?

Why was the movie's  portrayal of the mom in the story as the type of white woman that makes black people not trust white people?

Why does Micheal Oher, who the movie is about, say that he has no interest in seeing the movie?

Does this really model loving one's neighbor?

I also thought:   If I was black....

Would I have any interest in seeing this movie?

Would this movie seem insulting to me?

Would this movie give me a negative feeling about white people?

I'm not saying that the family who opened their home to Micheal did something wrong, but making a movie about this young man's story really unsettled me.

Any one else see the movie?  Thoughts?  Reactions?

ENTERMISSION

On December 26th, Reach Records released the debut album of DJ Official.  The album contains a compilation of original songs by over 20 artists including- Lecrae, Flame, J-son, Trip Lee and many more.  Fish, as he is affectionately called, is a master DJ and producer and this album is a must have for every fan of Christian hip hop.  Pick up yours today or go online to REACH RECORDS.

Pack the house

Yesterday was a good day. It was one of the reasons that I love our church. Relational. Laid back. Family like. We all gathered at our house for a game, children's story, singing, and a word about the importance of God's gift. The house was packed. Now I remember why we have two house groups.

Then everyone headed to another families home. We packed gift boxes for everyone to take and give to their neighbors, friends, co-workers, etc. It was great to see everyone working together. Then we ate and played games.

The day was full. The house was full. Really full. The shoes by the door told it all. Shoes, shoes, and more shoes.
As we all left with boxes to share the good news of God's gift, I thought of Romans 10:15.

"How beautiful are the feet of them who bring good news".

Disney's first black princess

Welcome Tiana! Disney now has a black princess. My wife and daughter got to be a part of a big celebration. 5th 3rd Bank donated a princess party to the after school program that they are a part of for over 50 mothers and daughters. Tiarra's and make-up. Red carpet and stretch limos. They made a big deal of it for them. Three different local news channels covered the story.

So is this a big deal? I mean the Obama's are in the White House. I believe it is for young African-American girls who have never quite seen themselves in Cinderella or Jasmine.

I read an article today in the Chicago Tribune which talked about why this is meaningful to African-Americans.

I was actually suprised that co-director John Musker said "he never knew African-American women may have been waiting for decades for a black princess". This is how disconnected we often are from the experience of others.

I have not seen the movie. I have already heard some of the criticisms, but I am glad that in 2009 Disney is now offering a princess story that features a princess with black skin.

Do you think this is a significant event?