Limiting Prayers

I think every time I am part of a group praying for requests I am struck by the way we pray. “Lord, be with__________ as they are going through…” I am as guilty of this as anyone, but I always find this to be a bad request to make. It comes easily, I’m not sure why, perhaps because we here it so often, or perhaps because it’s easier than praying for things that we aren’t sure he’ll answer. I mean, God is ALWAYS with us. We don’t have to ask him to be with us during difficult times. We need to step up and ask God for the things that are hard to ask for. “God, please take away the pain of ________ as they recover from ________”, “Lord, please let ____________ feel your overwhelming love for him during his time of loss”, etc.

I find it’s especially easy to pray “Lord be with…” when I don’t really know the person I’m praying for, but we still should be able to ask for something more specific. I wonder if we miss out seeing the amazing ways God answers prayer because we don’t go out on a limb and ask for something big and impossible. I wonder if we have “limited” God by asking him for something that doesn’t need to be asked for. I realize we often don’t feel God with us, we often overlook his presence in our lives, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t there. If we are really going to go to a “default setting” when praying we should at least change it so that we’re saying “Lord, allow _______ to feel your presence” or something like that.

As long as we are simply asking God to “be with” someone we are going to miss God’s answer to our prayers. This week my goal is to never simply pray, “Lord be with…” but instead take the time to figure out specifically what I am asking God to do for that person.

Blinded

Sunday was World Hunger Sunday, and like I would imagine many churches did our sermon focused on that very subject. Before the service I was talking with our pastor’s wife and she was sharing with me a struggle she had from the day before. They had gone downtown and had noticed that on every corner and every place they went there were people begging. She said at first she was overwhelmed by the amount of need, but by the end of the day she wasn’t even noticing them anymore.  Our pastor shared about seeing all the need and being overwhelmed by it as well, although from the pulpit he didn’t share having gotten to the point of no longer noticing the beggers, so I don’t know if his experience was the same as hers.

This all happened during the day when I was sitting by a table with a tent set up trying to get donations, pledges actually, for our youth and other church members to spend Saturday night sleeping outside, getting a taste of what it means to be homeless, and hopefully raising some money and awareness at the same time. So Sunday morning I sat with a couple kids trying to raise awareness of what we’re doing, and hopefully get some people who didn’t want to sleep out with us to give us money. A lot of people stopped and talked with me about what we are doing and they seemed genuinely interested and thought it was a great idea. 12:45 P.M. Sunday I’m packing up the tent and looking at a list of pledges with exactly 0 names. After all our promotion, after all the conversations I had had we didn’t get a single person pledging financial support. And this after these people sat in church listening to a sermon about giving.

In preperation for our Saturday sleeping out I have been doing a lot of studying and researching about homelessness. I’m trying to make it personal. A little while ago someone commented that I should read “Under the Overpass” and so I picked up a copy of the book. It’s very easy to read, as it seems to be written for an audience as young as junior high possibly? Two guys volunarily experience homelessness in several different U.S. cities over the course of about 5 months. Some of the book didn’t resonate with me, but two things in particular did. First is what seems a pretty obvious thing, the journey they describe puts a human face to homelessness. It allows someone who has never experienced what it’s like to be homeless to better understand what it means to be homeless. I think I got a glimpse of this during mission trips I’ve been on too. I’m always amazed at what seems to make the biggest impact on people. The second thing that struck me was reading how various churches and/or so called Christians responded to these “homeless” guys. It was a slap in the face to read about how some of these churches and people treated homeless people, because I more often than not have responded similarly. It’s easy to ignore need and think to yourself that if you gave them money they’d just go buy drugs or alcohol (which may be true, but there are other things we can do instead that are at least as meaningful).

I can sit in church and write all the blogs I want about being the hands and feet of Christ, but if I don’t step out and start acting like it it’s all meaningless. I’m not sure what I think about our planned event to raise awareness. I think it’s great to become more aware of what homeless families and individuals are dealing with, but I think it’s far more important to go and show those people Christ’s love, even though we cannot possibly understand what they endure every day. And I don’t think this necessarily means giving them money. I think we can start simply by acknowledging that they are human beings. And hopefully from there I can become more willing and able to show them the love of God in a true and helpful way.

Identity

One of the things I am continually trying to get youth to do is not just give the “right” answer. I find especially since I work with kids who have grown up in the church they always know the answer that is “right” and more often than not will give that answer even when I try to trick them into thinking differently. I’ve been frustrated by this because I really want them to be thinking about what it is they believe and not just regurgetating what the church says.

And then I realized that I do the exact same thing they are doing only in a different area. When I’m studying the Bible or trying to answer questions in the study I’m working on I will stop and think and then answer the way I have been tought to answer. And this is just me on my own with God. No one I need to impress, no one looking for a “right” answer. But these ideas that I have spent so much time with are so ingrained in my thinking that I don’t even stop to think if it’s really what I believe and think.

“Do you believe that God knew you before you even had a name?” Of course, the Bible says that, the church has been saying that forever, of course God knew me before I had a name, he created me, he created the world. Duh, that’s too easy. But then I stopped and really thought about it, and I do believe he knew me before anyone else knew me. But I realized at the same time that there has been this disconnect between my mind and my soul. I think that having these answers from the church that are supported by the Bible ingrained in my mind are wonderful things. The “right” answers aren’t wrong. But I need to make sure that my answers aren’t just my automatic response of things I have learned in my head. My answers need to be based on what I believe in my heart and soul.

I think we have done a really good job in the church of teaching the right answers. I believe that a child growing up in the church is going to graduate from high school with everything they need to make it in the world. But I think the problem is that we are teaching the head and not the soul. Even when I know the right answer or the right thing to do, and even if I agree with it, if it hasn’t moved from my intellectual data base to my become a part of who I am then when I am put on the spot I may vascilate. I may waiver, because I realize that while I know the correct response it is not part of who I am.

Yes, the church needs to do a better job integrating youth and adults. We need to do a better job keeping young adults involved in the church. We need to do a better job serving our community and evangelizing. But maybe part of the solution to all of this lies in doing a better job of connecting the head with the soul. Maybe if we figured out how to help members integrate everything they have been taught and believe into becoming their identity some of these other things would fall into place.

Isaiah 59

There’s nothing wrong with God; the wrong is in me.

My wrongheaded life caused the split between me and God.

Which means that I’m a far cry from fair dealing, and I’m not even close to right living.

I long for light but sink into darkness, long for brightness but stumble through the night.

Like the blind, I inch along a wall, groping eyeless in the dark.

I shuffle my way in broad daylight, like the dead, but somehow walking.

I’m no better off than bears, groaning, and no worse off than doves, moaning.

I look for justice- not a sign of it; for salvation- not so much as a hint.

My wrongdoings pile up before you, God, my sins stand up to accuse me.

My wrongdoings stare me down; I know in detail what I’ve done:

    Mocking and denying God, not following my God,

    Spreading false rumors, inciting sedition,

    Pregnant with lies, muttering malice.

    Justic is beaten back, Rightenousness is banished to the sidelines,

    Truth staggers down the street, Honesty is nowhere to be found,

    Good is missing in action.

Anyone renouncing evil is beaten and robbed.

Here, let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye…

A little less than a year ago Californian’s voted against gay marriage. As we all probably remember this caused quite an uproar among the gay population. Before I continue I need to be clear about something- I am not suggesting I support a homosexual lifestyle, however, I also cannot condemn homosexuality. That said, I stumbled across this video on youtube.

It’s rather deprecating to be sure. I mean, in essence it mocks the very idea of marriage by presenting these outrageous ideas and suggestions. But I believe that in addition to the negative there is a very honest idea. A genuine question that I think we in the church need to answer.

If we truly hold marriage as being sacred, why are we so accepting of divorce?

There are many passages in the Bible about divorce. In Malachai as part of his condemning of wickedness God says “I hate divorce”. That’s pretty straightforward. Jesus comes and says,  ”Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female, and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’ So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.” (Matthew 19:4-6)

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 says, “Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God”. So it’s justified to say that we do not believe homosexuals will go to heaven, but it’s also fair to say that pretty much all of us fall into one of the categories listed here. As sad as it is, most Christians today are still not free of these traps. Most of us, myself included still idolize, still fall prey to adultery (remember, Jesus says that anyone who thinks it does it).

My question then is this: as a Christian, is it correct for me to oppose the legalization of gay marriage?

I think of Jesus’ admonishment that we need to remove the plank from our own eye before we can attempt to remove the speck from the other person’s eye. As long as we are accepting of divorce, as long as we turn the other way when we see people having sex outside of marriage, as long as we condone the over-sexualized culture we are a part of, we cannot tell these people that they have no right to get married.

Am I missing something here? Is there a reason the church at large seems ignorant of this seemingly obvious idea? Why is it we can get all worked up about homosexual marriage and not even blink when we go to watch a movie where the woman cheats on her husband? Why do we mourn the disintegration of a marriage instead of being angry about it (I’m not referring to being angry at the people so much as being angry about another divorce)?

I don’t disagree with the people who are standing on the street corner claiming marriage is sacred. They are absolutely right. But the downfall of marriage does not lie with allowing same-sex marriages. It lies with us being willing to trivialize it from the start. Until we make marriage truly sacred once again we have absolutely no place telling two men in love that they cannot marry. Until we do our job as the church to return the sacredness of marriage to where it was created to be by fighting against cultural norms of sexuality, by fighting against divorce, by fighting against extra-marital sex, by changing our cultural norm we absolutely cannot say no to homosexual marriage. Unless you really want to try to take that speck out while working around the plank in your own eye. Good luck with that.

Black, White, and shades of Gray

I’ve been watching “Smallville” and as one would expect the premise is essentially good verses evil. Toward the end of season 8 there is a transition- from black and white to shades of gray. From obvious good and obvious evil to what is good and what is evil exactly?

The entire world is based on this dichotomy, good and evil. But especially Christianity. The show raises an excellent question- when, if ever, is it okay to compromise our standards of what is good in order to destroy that which is evil? When is it okay for us as Christians to give a little in order to gain more? Is it ever okay? Why are we so quick to judge and so slow to love? Did Jesus ever allow sin to be ignored or overlooked it if meant that the sinner was able to be part of the community? Are we justified in following in the steps of the general culture in order to reach more people? In the end are we actually making a difference by compromising the truth?

I think good and evil are black and white. Unfortunately in our fallen state we cannot clearly see what is good and what is evil. But the more gray we allow in the more room we give evil to spread. If the whole world becomes gray then good becomes evil and evil becomes good. In a slightly less extreme wording- the more we give in to what the world wants from us, the more we blur the line between what it means to be the church and what it means to be the world. The church, Christians, are called to be in the world but not of it. The more we follow the ways of the world the more we lose what it means to be the church. Sooner or later, we end up just being the world. Because as we have learned from the superhero stories, eventually the gray turns black. If good starts to compromise it eventually becomes evil.

Isaiah 43:1-4 (The Message)

Don’t be afraid, I’ve redeemed you.
   I’ve called your name. You’re mine.
When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you.
   When you’re in rough waters, you will not go down.
When you’re between a rock and a hard place,
   it won’t be a dead end—
Because I am God, your personal God,
   The Holy of Israel, your Savior.
I paid a huge price for you:
   all of Egypt, with rich Cush and Seba thrown in!
That’s how much you mean to me!
   That’s how much I love you!
I’d sell off the whole world to get you back,
   trade the creation just for you.

I Love You Still

What will it take to break my heart?

Inside I’m so full of myself.

What will it take to break my will?

Maybe loss…a friend, my health?

What will it take to turn me back?

I have wandered so far from him.

What will it take to give God all?

It’s hard to see…the light’s so dim.

What will it take to turn around?

I’m stuck inside a narrow rut.

What will it take to feel again?

My heart is steel- it won’t be cut.

What will it take to spark a flame?

I once knew warmth within God’s love.

What will it take to fear his name?

Fear? That what my mind’s full of.

What will it take to die to self?

I’m holding on for all I’m worth.

What will it take to know real wealth?

I’ve lost the joy of rebirth.

What will it take to make him Lord?

There’s so much stuff that’s in the way.

What will it take to cut sin’s cord?

I’ve lived a lie- it’s time to pay.

What will it take to seek his face?

It’s really hard, he sees clean through.

What will it take to honor grace?

O God, I want to run to you.

What will it take to come home Lord?

A broken hear, a humbled will.

What will it take to be restored?

“Repent,” God say, “I love you still.”

Darkness

The darkness within me takes hold. Slowly it covers up the light.  The space is filled more and more by the darkness until the light has been completely buried. And this is where I live. The light peeks out, I quickly cover it up, ashamed of what the darkness keeps hidden. More darkness, more sin.

But I am like a child, covering my eyes and believing that since I cannot see you, you cannot see me. But that which I hide in the darkness is really not hidden at all. So you wait until I am ready and slowly you shine your light, brighter and brighter. I am ashamed, I am afraid, I am sad and you show me what I always knew was there, that which I have kept hidden in the dark. I cannot cover this light and so I tremble stripped bare in your holy light as you hold it all and die for me.

I stand alone in the light, nothing to keep hidden anymore. For now.

Death

Death is all around us. Every day people are dying, every day pages are filled with short tributes to people who have left this world. But lately the death has seemed so much more. Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, the oxi-clean dude- these are people I have never met, people I have never really paid any attention to (I’m pretty sure the only non- Jackson 5 song by Michael Jackson I know is “Thriller”) and yet there deaths seem so tragic. Lives lost before they should. This was bad enough, but then…

Last night a 22 year old boy died in a tragic car accident. He wasn’t drunk, but while driving on a nearly desserted road he died. I met this boy only once, but his death hits me hard. Just shy of 5 years ago he sat along side of my brother as he went through the terrible ordeal of being told there was nothing wrong with him and being sent home when he had a growth on his brain stem that made him so nauseaus he couldn’t stop throwing up. This boy was there. He gave up his comforts to help my brother. And now he is gone.

Jake wasn’t a Christian to my knowledge. He didn’t go to church, he didn’t talk about God, he didn’t have a Bible. He might have been, but from what I know, he wasn’t. And this is something I am having trouble reconciling. I only met him once, but during that time I didn’t talk about what I believe, I didn’t try to tell him about what it means to be a Christian and I didn’t really act any different than anyone else (not that I acted poorly, just that there was nothing that set me apart). I have this belief that we should not walk up to people and just start “preaching”. But when I look at this lost opportunity I doubt my motives. Am I just afraid of being laughed at? Do I really believe that it is ineffective to just start talking about what I believe? Or do I not want to give up my comfort and enjoyment to take the time to talk with another? I don’t know. I honestly believe that the best evangelism is living life with people, but when that’s not possible should we be doing something else? Would me sharing my faith with this person have made a difference? I’ll never know. Perhaps he is a Christian, that would be wonderful.

There is something hopeful in the pain of loss when a Christian dies. The comfort of knowing they are living as we were created to live helps as we work through the pain of our human loss. But death when the person is not a Christian is by necessity void of hope. Because in death that person gets what they sought in life. In death all hope is lost. In that death they spend eternity in suffering and pain. Instead of release there is eternal torment.

Thank you Lord for giving us a choice. Thank you for providing a way to get that which we don’t deserve.

Lord have mercy.