Missions

At Trinity, we are in the middle of a series entitled Missions. The title is far from original but it is an accurate and straightforward description of the series. We often think of missions as something that other people do. There are those people who have given their lives to traveling to foreign lands to spread the good news of Jesus Christ we call “missionaries”, and then there is us. Missions, however, is not only overseas it is all around us. If we are followers of Jesus we are commanded that we should be joining God in making other followers of Jesus. It’s called the Great Commission. Missions is here, it is our school, our neighborhood, our work, and even our home.

Missions is all about joining God in brining people who do not yet know Jesus Christ personally into relationship with Him. It is what every follower of Jesus Christ has in common. We are all part of God’s mission of missions. It is time that each of us viewed ourselves as the missionaries that God has asked us to be.

One of the downsides to vocational ministry is not being in the mission field of the workplace. I discovered way too late in my secular work experience the joy of being used by God in missions in the work environment. Those of you who have the opportunity to invest in God’s kingdom in your workplace do not overlook the mission field where God has placed you. Be encouraged that God is looking to use you in every area of your life, particularly at work, to make a difference for His kingdom.

Communication

I have taken a little break from posting on this blog and I am not totally sure why. I think the major thing is busyness. I have been working in my life on how not to be busy. The bottom line is I don’t want to be busy because it leads to a lack of depth in every relationship I have. I know this for sure, that busyness is the enemy of spiritual growth. I also know that attempting to keep the lines of communication open is a constant battle.

This is true in every area of life. Keeping the lines of communication open in relationships and in organizations requires diligence. I know this is true in my relationship with Jesus, my relationships with my wife and children, in my relationships with friends. It is also true in my relationships with those I work with closely as well as those who are part of the Trinity Church family.

When I get busy, I stop communicating. Over the past few months I have had to make choices about what I will and will not do. I have had to choose what it is that I am committed to. Through this time I have set some goals as far as communication. I am committed to communicating the Word of God with clarity. I am committed to communicating with those who attend a weekend service and take the time to respond with a communication card. I am committed to communicating with those that I pray for. I am committed to communicating with my wife and children. Most importantly I am committed to communicating with Jesus.

This past weekend I taught on Matthew 7:1-12. In my preparation the fresh insight that God opened my eyes to was in the part of the passage that I thought I knew the best. In verse 7, Jesus tells his disciples that they are to ask, seek, and knock. I believe he is teaching us to be persistent in our relationship with him; that when we desire his righteousness above all else, we will be seekers of his presence in our lives. We will be people who long for communication with the King, who are then empowered by his presence to live out the life he has for us. This is the best gift we could ever receive. The best gift is Jesus' presence giving us joy, peace, and contentment in order for us to live lives that reflect this incredible Sermon.

Who is it that you need to renew your commitment to communication with? May God bless you as you take the time to slow down so you might ask, seek, and knock.

Experience Grace

As Easter fast approaches, I am studying what it means to actually experience grace.  God’s grace is something that people around the church talk about quite a bit.  But I wonder how many of us actually experience God’s grace in our lives beyond an intellectual level?

God’s grace means that God has chosen to love us despite of us not because of us.  When we think of that kind of love it is really beyond human understanding.  We can’t love like that on our own.  God’s grace is a place where we can find security and comfort.  But often times we end up thinking we need to find our peace, contentment, and security elsewhere.  God is clear however that His grace is enough… “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (2 Cor. 12:9, ESV)

When we think we have to be right, be strong, be confident, and be able – we end up missing out on God’s grace.  We can live as joyful and secure people because we can know for sure that despite how often we screw up, God will meet us and help us move forward.  God’s grace allows me to meet people where they are and love them.  God’s grace allows me to be me instead of attempting to be what I think people want me to be.  God’s grace allows me to die to me and live for Jesus.

This weekend I am going to be talking about how people can experience God’s grace and not simply the idea of it.  One of the ways that we can experience God’s grace is by intentionally spending time in His presence.  This week we have another 24/7 prayer event going on.  My prayer for those who are spending time in the prayer space is that they would experience God’s grace in their lives. 

As I prepare this week pray for me… that I will correctly and clearly communicate what it means to Experience Grace.

Creative Prayer

I recently read a book called Creative Prayer by Chris Tiegreen. If you read my blog you may have seen that name before. I have been using devotionals written by Chris Tiegreen over the past two years. His inspirational and convicting writing in his devotionals motivated me to pick up and read Creative Prayer.

The premise of the book is that many of us have an unbalanced relationship with God because we limit our prayer lives to words alone. In my journey to understand more of what it means to truly pray, to communicate intimately with the Creator of heaven and earth this book has made a significant impact in my thinking. As I look at my life I would have to say that my prayer life was pretty much confined to words prior to the new prayer space at Trinity Church. I have engaged in more creative forms of prayer in using that space, but I am not sure that I have fully engaged God beyond words. I know experientially that prayer through song is a powerful expression that can lead to an intimate encounter with God. That is one of the reasons I am such a big advocate for corporate worship based prayer, but what about other creative expressions in prayer?

In Creative Prayer Tiegreen points to the many examples in Scripture where people interact with God beyond simply using words. One of the examples of prayer that goes beyond words is found in Elisha’s interaction with the Shunammite Woman in 2 Kings 4:4-36. Tiegreen makes the argument that Elisha’s prayer was acted out in raising the woman’s son from the dead instead of merely spoken. He says, “It was a tangible prayer, a physical petition for God to repeat the miracle of first life.” So Elisha lay on the boy and breathed into him, the same way God hovered over Adam and breathed life into him.

Tiegreen says that creative prayer is prayer with our whole being – using all the gifts God has given us to express ourselves. The God who has given you the ability to dance, or sing, or draw, or paint, or act, or write, or any other gift God has given to you – is the God who desires for you to use that ability in your relationship with Him. This concept is one of those revolutionary concepts of prayer that I believe will take my prayer life to another level. I look forward to what God will teach me as I engage Him in creative prayer.

What do you do when it just doesn’t make sense?

A couple of weeks ago in our staff meeting we had a discussion about the sovereignty of God.  God is all-powerful (omnipotent), able to do all His holy will.  God’s sovereignty is His exercise of His power or rule over His creation.  In our discussion we talked about God’s ability to stop events from happening and alter events at His will.  When we come to life events that seemingly make no sense we can be left with questions about God’s activity or inactivity depending on our view. 

The most recent event that seemingly makes no sense is the shooting of the pastor from Maryville, IL.  Dr. Fred Winters, Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church, Maryville was shot to death while delivering a sermon yesterday morning.  What a horrific event that leaves followers of Jesus around the world wondering why.

As a pastor I frequently come across events in people’s lives that seemingly make no sense.  In my own life, I experience events that simply make no sense.   The thing is when those events in my life are positive I am quick to praise God and I don’t seem to question God at all.  But when the events are negative in my eyes, then a stream of questions flows instead of a river of praise.

What is truly amazing about God is that He is able to work through evil.  We can observe throughout Scripture God working through the evil actions and hearts of people.  Joseph is one very clear example.  Joseph’s brothers were so jealous of him that they sold him into slavery (Genesis 37:28 ESV).  Through the evil actions and heart attitudes of Joseph’s brothers God’s plan was being worked out.  Joseph was sent ahead of his brothers to Egypt and was eventually able to say to them, “… God sent me before you to preserve life” (Genesis 45:5 ESV).  Later in Genesis 50:20 Joseph gave his brothers these words of encouragement, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”  Another great example of God working through the evil hearts of people is God’s interaction with Pharaoh in Exodus chapters 4-14.

I want to encourage you to seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance on how you can pray for Dr. Winter’s family, First Baptist Church, Maryville, as well as the gunman and his family and friends.   And then pray for someone else that you know personally that is struggling with circumstances that seemingly make no sense.  Then take time to praise God that we can trust Him even when it appears that things don’t make sense.

What does it mean to pray?

Have you ever considered what it means to truly pray?  Does prayer actually convince God to do things that he was not planning or the means by which He carries out His plans?  Our understanding of prayer is important because it impacts how and how much we pray.  If we believe our prayers are not that important because God already has everything figured out, I believe the result will be to a life that never experiences the powerful and dynamic prayer life God desires every follower of Jesus to experience.  If we think that God is waiting to meet our every desire then we will end up praying what we want instead of what God wants.

In Exodus 32:14 we observe the Lord relent from disaster in response to the prayer of Moses for the people of Israel.  Moses prays and the Lord responds.  It is important that we see how God is looking to work through people to carry out His purpose if we want to truly join God in seeing His kingdom come and will be done. 

I have been reading a short little book on prayer by Watchman Nee titled, Let Us Pray.  In this book he writes, “… the first step in our doing God’s will is for us to utter His will in prayer.  … There is no work more important than prayer because the latter accomplishes as well as expresses the will of God.  Hence all prayer which comes our of self-will is useless.”  The problem the majority of Christians find in prayer is that they are never able to move beyond their wants and desires as the focus of their prayers. 

Watchman Nee continues, “…our prayer should never be asking the Lord to do what He has no desire to do or trying to change His will.  It is simply a praying out of His will, thus enabling Him to do what He desires to do.”  For whatever reason God has chosen to partner with praying people in carrying out His will on earth.  God is looking for people willing to join Him in carrying out His will.  Are you that kind of Christian?

Praying for an hour?

Psalm 92:1-4, speaks of the wonder of praising God. This past weekend our worship service was focused entirely on praying. The whole service was one long prayer. We did not pray how we as people normally end up praying... you know, “God bless the missionaries” “God bless the sick people” kind of praying. Instead our prayer was focused on God’s presence, we were praying from our hearts in response to who God is. We were seeking God’s face and not just His hand.

That is the kind of prayer that is exciting. I may be a little biased, but I had an awesome time. It is not often that you hear people talking about the incredible time they had in prayer. But that is exactly what prayer can be, completely and totally exciting. God is incredible and spending time in His presence can be incredible if we move past our needs.

When we base our prayers in our needs it doesn’t take long for prayer to become boring and monotonous. After all, how many times can I say the same thing the same way before I get bored with hearing myself? Discovering God focused worship based prayer allows for prayer to become an exciting and dynamic encounter with God. My heart for every person at Trinity Church is that they would experience a relationship with God that is exciting and dynamic. Joining together in corporate worship based prayer is powerful. I can’t wait to do it again…

Looking forward to your thoughts and comments on corporate worship based prayer.

The Potter

This year is my third year using a devotional written by Chris Tiegreen editor for indeed magazine at Walk Thru the Bible. (If you are looking for a devotional resource to use in addition to a systematic Bible reading plan, I highly recommend his stuff.) This week he has been in Jeremiah 18:1-10 talking about Jeremiah’s experience at the potter’s house.

Today’s devotion focused on the way God speaks to us through experience. As Jeremiah is sent to the potter’s house to observe the potter in action the illustration is much more powerful than if it had simply been presented in words. God speaks to us and shapes us by showing us His nature through our experiences. God also uses people to demonstrate who He is.

Someone once shared with me something that I did not want to be the case but I found out was true. While going through a season of adversity in my life this person said, “Dave, you are going to have to live it before you can preach it.” As much as I did not want to admit it, that was the case. Through that experience the Potter shaped me. While I would never want to experience it again, it has shaped me to be able to better do what God has called me to do.

God speaks to us through images not just words. The ultimate picture is Jesus Christ. God is looking to bring glory to Himself by redeeming a world that does not know or acknowledge Him. God is looking for people who will take the journey to the Potter’s house and then allow Him to shape them for His purpose. The ultimate purpose is that the world might know Him. God uses people to display who He is. And ultimately He is a God who refashions a lump of clay into beautiful, functional pottery. Will you allow the Potter to shape you so people can see Him?

Pray For Our President

Today was a historic day, as Barak Obama became our 44^th president.  No matter your political preferences we must all agree that today is significant in the life of our nation.  The question for followers of Jesus is now, “How do we pray for our new president and his team?”

1 Timothy 2:1-2, is clear that we should be praying for those in leadership not only in our churches but also in our government.  This should be done on a local, state, and national level.  For those of you with access to the prayer space at Trinity I encourage you to stop in and pick up the prayer card entitled “30 Ways to Pray for People in Authority.” It offers some practical suggestions for ways that you can pray for leaders in our nation.  No matter our view of his politics we must pray for our president.

Our hope is not in government.  We should make sure that we are clear on that principle.  Our hope is for people to experience the grace and truth brought only by Jesus Christ.  But we need to pray for our new president and his cabinet.  The Bible is full of prayers waiting to be prayed for them… 

Share your story...

We are just a couple of hours away from the end of Trinity Church’s first venture into 24/7 prayer. It has been an exciting time. I have heard many people talk about their experience(s) in the prayer space over the past 12 days. I would like to encourage you to share your experience here. We can encourage one another through our stories of how God has impacted our life. What has God shown you?

The only way to learn how to pray is to pray. You can read books on prayer go to prayer seminars and conferences and listen to all kinds sermons about prayer and still the only way to truly learn how to pray is to pray. That is what makes the prayer space such a powerful tool in helping people learn how to pray.

As we close out the first 12 days of prayer it is not an end but a beginning, a beginning of Trinity becoming a praying church. Be bold and share with others what God has shown you…

24/7 Prayer

Psalm 27:8 is one of my favorite verses. The Psalmist writes of how his heart longs to seek the Lord’s face. Seeking God’s face in prayer is an all too often overlooked part of being a follower of Christ. When it comes to prayer, how often do we pray simply because we want to be in God’s presence as opposed to wanting Him to act in some fashion for our benefit? The concept that prayer is about relationship is new for many people, but we must move toward becoming people who demonstrate that we love God by seeking His face and not only His hand.

Trinity Church has started 2009 by praying 24/7 for the first 12 days of the year. We are now 5 days into this prayer time. During our prayer time we are interceding for people, but our primary purpose is to simply seek God’s presence. It is great to hear from people who have been part of this event and their experiences. I am looking forward to hearing about your experience during the hour you spend in our new prayer space.

We pray expecting that God will show up and when God shows up amazing things happen, but that is not why we pray. We pray because we simply do not want to do anything, even good things without the presence of God (Exodus 33:14-15). We pray because we serve a God who loves us deeply and desires for us to love Him deeply as well. We pray because we have been given the opportunity in Christ(Matthew 7:7-8).

Trinity Church has begun a journey toward discovering what it means to be a church of prayer. There are sure to be many highs and lows along the way, but I look forward to the journey.