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Life · Ministry · Faith

Month: January 2015

Where did the time go?

January 27, 2015 /

Alarm Clock

We all have the same number of seconds in a day, 86,400 to be exact. Yet for must of us it feels like there are never enough. Of course there are those people we know who seem to have discovered a secret bank from which they can draw upon additional seconds when they need them. The people annoy me. Jay Akkerman in the article Making Time Stand Strong: Spiritual Formation Day by Day, shares a powerful insight about how we spend our time: “In December 2009, Nielsen reported that ‘Americans consume media at a record pace–140 hrs of TV, 27 hrs of Internet, 3 hrs of mobile video each month,’ which means than on average, Americans now spend as much time in front of their screens as they do at work” (108). Ouch!

What would happen if for one week you were to take an audit of your time, recording how each hour of the days were spent? What would you discover? Would the way you are spending your time be consistent with what you say is most important to you?

Blessings,
Pastor Stephen

 

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Article published in the book Spiritual Formation: A Wesleyan Paradigm edited by Diane Leclerc and Mark A. Maddix. Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press, 2011.

Do we want revival or comfort?

January 20, 2015 /

Dear Friends,

At least one thing seems to be universally true of churches across the decades and across the faith spectrum: The church prays for revival. But what are we really praying for and do we really want revival to come? Are we willing to pay the price for revival?

If we are honest, when we are praying for revival we are often praying for God to restore some glory days of the past or we are praying for God to work within the framework of our own expectations and comfort level.

Timothy Keller, in his book Center Church: Doing Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry in Your City, shares some very important insights about revival. First, “revivals occur mainly through the ‘instituted means of grace’ preaching, pastoring, worship, and prayer. It is extremely important to reaffirm this. The Spirit of God can and does use these ordinary means of grace to bring about dramatic, extraordinary conversions and significant church growth.”

But if we stop there we miss something very important. Keller goes on to say, “nevertheless, when we study the history of revivals, we usually see in the mix some innovative method of communicating the gospel.” So it is that revivals of the past have have used the printing press, preaching in the fields, modern music, alter calls, and much more.

So the question to ask ourselves, when we pray for revival are we willing to be used in ways outside our comfort zone? In ways that may not be seen as acceptable by the church establishment? In ways that “have never been done before?” If so, pray for revival! If not, then please stop praying for something you really don’t want.

Blessings,
Pastor Stephen

Close enough to be burned

January 13, 2015 /

Dear Friends,

Are you close enough to those who suffer to feel their pain yourself? Many times I have sat in meetings or been a part of conversations that questioned whether they church really should be helping those who walk in from the street. Often those discussions are filled with questions asking “What if?”

What if they take advantage of us?
What if they use the money we give them to buy alcohol?
What if the story they are telling us is not true?
What if they go back to their old way of life?
What if they take our generosity and walk away?
What if I get hurt?
What if it takes too much of my time?
What if I do not have the answers to their problems?
What if . . . ?
What if . . . ?
What if I lived as Jesus lived?
What if I loved as Jesus loves?

Jesus demonstrated for us a different kind of life and a different kind of leadership than many of us are comfortable with. As Henri Nouwen in his book The Wounded Healer, states “The beginning and the end of all Christian leadership is the give your life for others” (77).

How many times did Jesus heal a person and tell them to go and sin no more and the person then went and sinned? How many times did people take the second chance given to them my Jesus and squander it? We do not know. The Bible never says. Maybe that is just the point. To love is to risk being taken advantage of and to be hurt but we love and serve anyway. Nouwen goes on to say “Who can save a child from a burning house without taking the risk of being hurt by the flames? Who can listen to a story of loneliness and despair without taking the risk of experiencing similar pains in their own heart and even losing their precious peace of mind? In short, ‘Who can take away suffering without entering it?'” (78)

Blessings,
Pastor Stephen

Kingdom Prayers

January 8, 2015 /

Dear friends,

What kind of prayers are you praying? Are your prayers filled with the words of the Kingdom or do you pray prayers of maintenance? In his book, Center Church: Doing Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry in Your City, Timothy Keller offers these powerful insights:

To kindle every revival, the Holy Spirit initially uses what Jonathan Edwards called “extraordinary prayer” united, persistent, and kingdom centered. Sometimes it begins with a single person or a small group of people praying for God’s glory in the community. What is important is not the number of people praying but the nature of the praying. C. John Miller makes a helpful and perceptive distinction between “maintenance” and “frontline” prayer meetings. 1 Maintenance prayer meetings are short, mechanical, and focused on physical needs inside the church. In contrast, the three basic traits of frontline prayer are these:

1. A request for grace to confess sins and to humble ourselves

2. A compassion and zeal for the flourishing of the church and the reaching of the lost

3. A yearning to know God, to see his face, to glimpse his glory

These distinctions are unavoidably powerful. If you pay attention at a prayer meeting, you can tell quite clearly whether these traits are present. In the biblical prayers for revival in Exodus 33; Nehemiah 1; and Acts 4, the three elements of frontline prayer are easy to see. Notice in Acts 4, for example, that after the disciples were threatened by the religious authorities, they asked not for protection for themselves and their families but only for boldness to keep preaching! Some kind of extraordinary prayer beyond the normal services and patterns of prayer is always involved.

So I ask again, what kind of prayers are you praying?

Blessings,
Pastor Stephen

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