Today

    This book I mentioned in the last post has really gotten me thinking about prayer and why we pray.  It also got me to thinking about the church and where it is today.  It is just my opinion, but it seems to me that the church today lacks the power and authority that it should have.  You look at the church in the New Testament and you see the ground shake when the believers prayed.  You hear stories of how the early christians faced death in the lions dens and in other ways with courage and strength.  Then, I look at my own life and it seems there is a total absence of that kind of strength.  I don't see it in my life and I don't see it in most christians lives that I know of, so what is the problem here?

    I'm not sure, but I came away from this book feeling convicted that I need to pray more.  I know that that is true, but sometimes it is easy to talk about and not to do.  I get busy and with a lot of other things prayer gets put on the back burner.  Yet, as busy as Jesus was, he always found time to get away and pray.  Not only that, but it seemed he had an ongoing dialogue with God the Father all day and all night long.  Over and over again, Jesus refers to doing the service that God wants him to and sent him for.  He said that he does the work that he sees the Father doing.  There was an intimate connection there and I think he wants us to have the same relationship to Him.

   If we are honest about it, I don't see that in my own life.  I see an attitude that says that I can do this on my own.  Maybe that is what sin is.  This attitude that since we have overcome and done well with some things in the past that we don't need God's help.  More and more, I am feel I need his help just to get out of bed in the morning.  Maybe that is also what God waits for, for us to come to the end of ourselves, so that we are ready to give full control up to him.  I know that for me, I can't do this christian life thing without God in control.  When I take control, I make a mess out of things. 

   I am thankful that God is infinitely patient and merciful to me and treats me with his grace and not as I deserve.  I am so slow to learn the basics.  Not just me, but the whole church needs revival today.  We need to be the praying church that God meant for us to be, intimately connected to him in service and love.  We can't do anything without him.  In fact, we make a mess out of things.  The world is not convinced and our witness lacks power and strength.  It is only through total surrender that I find my adequately.  It is in my weakness and powerlessness that I find Him adequate.  His grace is sufficient.

Talking with My Father

   Recently, I picked up a book at the library called "Talking with My Father" by Ray Stedman.  The late Ray Stedman was a great bible preacher and teacher, so I was anxioius to read what he had to say.  I have heard him preach on several internet sermon sites.  So far, I have not been disappointed with this little book.  It appears that the chapters were adapted from sermons that he preached on prayer.

  

        One of the first passages that he quotes is in Luke 18:1-18.  The parable is about an unjust judge and ruler who is bothered by a widow who is seeking justice for herself.  She decides she will bother the judge until she gets justice.  The story is one of contrast.  Jesus is contrasting the unjust judge with a just God.  In effect, Jesus is saying that unlike this judge, God is a willing giver of gifts.  God is like a merciful Father, who loves his children and is willing to give.

   Ray makes a comment early on in the book that really struck me as interesting.  He says that prayer is a reflection of faith.  If, in fact, I do not believe that God will do anything if I pray how likely am I to continue praying?  Probably not very likely.  But, if I believe that God is anxious to answer my prayers and hears me, then I am much more likely to bring to God all that I need. 

   I would add that it is a reflect of a healthy relationship with God.  If I have a open and honest relationship with God then I will have a ongoing dialogue with God.  I will share with God my struggles and pains and also my joys.  A lack of a dialogue is a sign of a strained relationship at best.  Having said that, also talking about prayer, rather than actually praying is also a sign of sickness.  How would you like it if people talked about talking to you, but then never did? 

  This book really has made me think about how I pray.  I am looking forward to reading more of what he has to say this week.   Some related scriptures that are brought up in this book are:
Luke 18:9-14; Luke 11:1-4; 11:5-13; John 17; John 14:12-18

Paralytic Cured

"And behold, they were bringing to Him a paralytic, lying on a bed; and Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, "Take courage, My son, your sins are forgiven."" Matthew 9:2

        This appears to be the same story where the young man is lower from the roof to Jesus by his friends (also mentioned in Luke 5:18-26).  Jesus is in the middle of a home, one of the few times we see him teaching inside, and the roof is literally taken off the house to get this paralyzed man to Jesus.  Seeing their faith, Jesus responds to them.  That is so important to get.  It was the faith of those present, who were desperate to get this man to Jesus, that made this miracle possible.  God honors our faith even when it is as small as a mustard seed.

      Isn't it interesting though, that the sickness that Jesus first mentions is not the physical illness.  The Bible clearly states that this sickness affects us all.  Paul said in Ephesians 2:1 "And you were dead in your trespasses and sins."  But, Jesus is willing to cleanse us from these sins if we only ask.  So, this is the illness that Jesus addresses first with this young man. 

      Instead of being glad for this man, the Pharisees respond by claiming that Jesus is blasphemy against God because he is declaring he can forgive sins.  The Pharisees state that only God can forgive sins.  This is actually a true state.  Only God can forgive sins.  Because it is His universe and he alone is the author of our lives and redeemer.  Then, Jesus basically says to them, "I'll show you that I have this authority.  Is it easier to say "your sins are forgiven" or "rise up and walk".  In other words, the miracles testify that Jesus is who he says he is.  With that the man walks out of the room and goes home a whole man.

      Many people today want to believe that God is a God of love without understanding that God is also a holy and just God.  They want to good without the bad and certainly don't believe in a hell.  But, in order for there to be justice there must be a hell.  Without purity then God is also corrupt and that is a pretty scary thought.  God alone has the right to condemn sins because of his position as author and creator of all things.

Some verses to ponder:
"But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive  together with Christ (by grace you have been saved). . ." Eph 2:4

"For He delivered us from the domain of darkenss, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."  Col 1:13-14

Dealing with Change

   One of the best books I read to help me understand the church and its problems was a book by Edwin Friedman called "Generation to Generation" http://www.amazon.com/Generation-Family-Process-Church-Synagogue/dp/0898620597 .  What I got out of the book, is that Friedman compares churches and synagogues to families (Friedman is Jewish).   In the sense that, families have role and expectations of each member and so do churches.  This expectation is set whether it is consciously acknowledged or not.

   These expectations and roles that churches have, both of their congregations and the ministers in them often will lead to conflict.  When one or more members is not living up to the role or trying to take on a role that is not designated to them.  This can be particularly difficult for a new situation where the roles and expectations have not been clearly voiced or understood or where the expectations were different somewhere else.  I think this is, in part, what led to some confusion on my part in some of the positions I have been in.  The role that was expected of me was not clearly voiced or the committee that called me was in conflict with what the churches expectations clearly were.

   In my case, in my first church, I voiced my desire for they're to be an outreach ministry.  I was coming from a largely suburban experience of churches to a more rural setting.  I was use to things growing and being built and I moved to an area that was experiencing decline.  The word "outreach" did not mean to them knocking on doors.  I think in looking back on it, they wanted outreach, but they wanted it they're way.  Because our expections were different, that led to frustration.  That frustration was mainly on my side of things because I didn't understand the expectations.  There was probably also things about that culture that I didn't get or didn't take the time to understand.

   I was thinking that maybe this is why change has been so difficult for me over time.  I remember my first serious conflict with change.  It was the move from elementary school to junior high.  I still remember it as one of the worst and most stressful days of my young life.  The school was so much bigger and we actually had lockers instead of leaving our books in our desk.  Hildebrandt Junior High seemed so huge back then and actually it is not that small now either.  I was pretty comfortable back at old Northampton Elementary and would have been okay with everything pretty much staying the same. 

  I say this in the middle of experiencing big changes at work over the last few weeks.  My job duties have changed (I think for the better) and my supervisor has changed and now our doctor and program director is changing.  While many, if not most, of these changes in the long run may be good, it has my anxiety up a little this week.  The thought occured to me that maybe this is why people in the church often complain when change occurs there also.  Whether it be a change in classrooms or a new way of doing ministry.  It isn't that we don't want good things to happen, but it is an embrace of the way things have been.  Whether or not it has all been good, it is something known.

  Maybe this is why I also enjoy the concept of God as unchanging.  That while many things may change in my life, if not everything at some point or other, God doesn't need nor does he change. See Malachi 3:6; James 1:17.

The time is fulfilled

  I decided this morning since I could not sleep to do some Bible study in the gospel of Mark.  This site in particular seemed like a good bible study tool  http://bible.cc/  As I was studying Jesus' words, I noticed his first sentence in this gospel starts with "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdome of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel." Mark 1:15

  Looking at that a little more in depth, we see that Jesus said that the time for his coming was fulfilled.  God set aside a time, mentioned in Daniel 9:24-27, when his messiah would come.  This was a time in history when it was perfect for the Son of God to come.  The Romans had made a universal language that made the telling of the gospel story easier.  They had made roads to make it easier to travel and spread the gospel.  But, unlike today, most people's hearts were not cold to the gospel and many were open to hearing the message preached.  It seems today that for many people they have already decided that the gospel is not for them and they prefer their own way to God's.  In fact, most evangelists would tell you that if you do not reach a person when they are a child today the possibility of them accepting Christ is rather remote.

  Now that the time is fulfilled, Jesus says, the kingdom of God is at hand.  The word "kingdom" is the word basilera.  It means the sovereignty, the royal power, the kingdom.  The kingdom was at hand.  The kingdom and entry into the kingdom was open to them through the person of Jesus. John said, "He came to His own and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name." John 1:11-12.  Jesus opened a door to the kingdom that nobody could then shut.

  The "kingdom is at hand" is related directly to the "repentance and believe in the gospel".  The word "repentance is the word "metanocite" which means to "change one's mind or purpose".  It literally means to change direction.  That is what many churches neglect to mention.  They make it seem that we can love the world and our own direction and plans and add Christ.  But, the gospel tells us we must chose whether we go the narrow way or our own way.  We must chose to change our direction.  God is not the co-pilot.  He won't share control of the wheel.  We aren't to be a back seat driver either.  We either give him control and surrender or we are not truly repentant.  Repentance means my purpose is now his and his is mine.  It changes the whole reason for our existence and redefines what is important and who is important.  It is the reason that we can no longer embrace the world and its defintions which are constantly thrown at us.

   This is a life long battle for the believer.  To be willing each day to surrender my own will to God's and to do His will and not my own.  At times I do not see him at work.  His timing certainly is not mine.  I am an impatient person to say the least.  At times, I think I can handle things and stop praying as I should.  God calls the believer and unbeliever to repent and change direction daily.  To be willing to trust God to take the wheel and not to make demands from the back seat that God is going the wrong way.

satisfied

  In Hosea 13:5b-6 it says, "In the land of drought. As they had their pasture, they became satisfied. And being satisfied, their hearts became proud; Therefore, they forgot Me."

     In several instances in the book of Hosea, God goes back to the time of Egypt.  When he led the people of Israel across a land of drought to the promise land.  Here he does so again, reminding the people that when they reached the promise land they quickly forgot Him.  Moses warned the people before they entered the promise land that this would happen.  Yet, it was not only in the promise land that they strayed from Him.  It just made it easier to walk away.  They also disobeyed him in the desert also time and time again.  When times got tough they accused God and Moses of leading them into the desert to kill them. 

   It is easy to point fingers at the people of Israel saying that I would not do that.  But, the truth is that this is a part of our sin nature.  This tendency to be self-sufficient, to not pray, to take the easy road instead of the road less traveled.  The people became self-reliant because in their hearts they thought they could handle the challenges of life without God's help, forgetting that He was the reason that they were there in the first place.  That is easy to do when things are going well, but God still calls it spiritual adultery. 

Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it.  For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it." Matthew 7:13-14

  I pray as I read this that God would replace my stubborn heart that wants to do things its own way with a heart that is cleanse and pure and seeks after him.  "Create in Me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." Psalm 51:10