Praying for Puppies?

One balance I've often struggled with in prayer--especially group prayer--is taking everyone's issues seriously but not making prayer some kind of trite grocery list of suggestions to God. What do you do when someone says their dog needs prayer because it's going to get a shot? Or that their grandma got a bad watermelon at the store that she can't take back?

On the side of accommodating, and even encouraging, any and every request are a few things. One, I believe that God is intimately involved in the world and that there isn't anything that escapes his awareness. So on some level, anything that is a concern to someone is a concern to him. Second, I don't believe I have the right to judge the validity of someone else's experiences. So if someone says they are anxious, sad, or angry about something, my reaction shouldn't be to dismiss it as stupid. It may be something that wouldn't matter to me were I in their shoes, but apparently it does matter to them. Third, I believe that God answers prayer. Prayer is not just something God uses to shape us (though it can do that), he has invited us to shape his involvement in the world through prayer.

On the side of not wanting to accomodate seemingly trite prayers are a few other things. One, the Bible doesn't give us many examples of the kinds of prayer. Prayer in Scripture is rich and is far more about the things of the kingdom of God than it is about minor inconveniences or pains. Two, prayer requests like these tend to make group prayer time less meaningful and more routine. It's easy to make a list, check it twice, and talk out loud about it under the pretense of it being prayer. Sometimes it may be prayer, but I know that there are many times I've just prayed for someone's request without passion or desire because I thought I had to. Many times these requests seem to come out because someone really wants to say something, just give an update on their life and not know when else to do it, or spread some gossip. Third, this reinforces that Christianity is all about "me" and God giving me what I deserve. I don't have time to write about all the things that are wrong with that and how that thinking has neutered Christianity.

Something that motivated this is an article I came across by JoHannah Reardon on group prayer. Again, there's no hyperlink button on this computer, but if you're up for cutting and pasting it's at http://www.christianitytoday.com/smallgroups/articles/artofgroupprayer.html.

Your thoughts on the topic?

Article Worth Reading

This article (http://www.theofframp.org/emerging.html) (sorry, my hyperlink button in blogger isn't working) by Brian McLaren was brought to my attention and I think it's worth reading. A few of my favorite lines to entice you into reading it are:

"So, this quest for community challenges us not to seek community as a commodity, but rather to pursue love (which is patient, kind, not rude, etc.) as a practice, which yields community as a byproduct."

We have massive systemic problems, one of which is "Our transience , which means right about the time we, against all odds, get close to a circle of friends, half of them will up and move away."

"Old categories merge in what I believe is a radical shift in our theology, from a system in which "missions" is one department of theology, to a new place where theology is one department of mission."

"In contrast, missional Christianity says, "God is expressing his love to all outsiders through our acts of kindness and service. You're invited to leave your life of accumulation and competition and self-centeredness to join us in this mission of love, blessing, and peace. Want to join in the mission?"

Any thoughts?

Living in Two Worlds

The Bible attests that those who follow Christ have been delivered from the dominion of darkness and brought into the Kingdom of the Son (Col. 1:12-14). This sounds nice--like something we'd be happy about, but it raises the question of how we live in light of the fact that we are now citizens of and earthly kingdom and the kingdom of God. The implications for mission are not as problematic as the reality of how we live our lives as individuals and communities. For instance--

How do function as self-giving, patient, sacrificial, forgiving, long-suffering communities (Col. 3:12-16 among others) of faith when we are transient, fragmented, selfish, and individualistic people? The realities of the life we've bought make the kind of community life envisioned in the New Testament (and perhaps best illustrated in the picture of a body of believers) a distant reality that appears as a shadow to us. We find it difficult to imagine spending the time and effort it would take to develop deep family bonds with fellow believers let alone to find the challenge and encouragement there to push us out into service and witness in the world. We just don't have the time. We have accepted a life where our deepest relationships with other believers are forged in an hour or two a week. We don't have the patience to work diligently on much anymore, we just want quality quickly.

How can we show people a life characterized by love for enemies and peace when one of our foremost concerns is our rights? Whether or not we should retaliate when our rights are violated isn't given much thought. We just assume that if we are mistreated, caused to suffer, or just not given our due, then someone needs to pay for it. The example of our Master might lead us to consider otherwise (1 Peter 2:20-24).

How will we learn to be disciples of the homeless, sinner-associating, positionless Jesus when we love money and comfort? The life we are called to, both individually and corporately, cannot be lived in the service of more than one master. I just wonder how badly we twist the message of the Master so that we won't have to feel too uncomfortable. We are often bowing to masters we don't know are there, because we don't take the time to look and see them.

Much of this comes out of reflections while teaching Colossians. It is an enormous task for us to live in the place we occupy in this world, as faithful messengers of our Lord, while at the same time being transformed by the upside-down values of the Kingdom of light.

Super Saturday

Michelle and I returned to Aurora this past Saturday to search for a place to live. I ended up being a great day and I wanted to share a couple highlights. In case you're interested in the general but not the specific, I put the general praise in bold and then wrote more about it after.

We found an amazing place to live that is perfect for us right now in many ways...that's what I describe below.
We started the day looking for a place to live in Naperville, then went to Warrenville, spent some time on the east edge of Aurora, and ended up on the west side of Aurora. Most of the day was pretty discouraging in regard to the places we were seeing. However, the last place we went, the one we thought would have no chance, ended up being great and we are approved to be able to rent it. Here are some of the reasons it's so great.

There is a huge unfinished basement. It will need a little sprucing up, but this will be a place that can hold 20-25 people so as we have parties and as our cell group grows there will be plenty of space to meet. Since it is in the basement it is also far enough away from the kids' rooms that they would be able to sleep while we are talking, singing, or whatever. Most of the places we looked didn't have anything like this and we would have had a hard time fitting more than 10 people in the living room.

It is in West Aurora. All along we have liked the diversity of Aurora and wanted that to be the place we were centrally located. We thought we might have to compromise that some because it is so difficult to find a place to rent in the area right now. So we had been preparing ourselves to be in a less than ideal location, at least for the first year. This is in a very nice neighborhood, is only 5-7 minutes from downtown Aurora, and will be a great place to be. We think we could be very happy living here for a number of years, which we thought was out of the question until we saw this place.

There is a huge backyard. Not an easy thing to find in any city. This will be great for our kids, and beyond that there are only partial fences between yards and the person renting to us said people will play across the yards--sounds like a great way to meet the neighbors!

The rent is the cheapest of any of the places we looked at!! Enough said.

The second, and more important, great thing that happened on Saturday happened at lunch. We got together with a couple we met for the first time in May and they told us that they wanted to be a part of Infuse!

The first time we met with Brian and Sarah we left lunch and Michelle said, "When he talks it sounds like you! Or maybe when you talk it sounds like him. Either way, you two think so much alike about the church and what we need to be in our culture." It is a blessing to be joined by a couple that is so seriously pursuing how to live out faith in our culture and are mature in their faith. As a bonus, we sincerely enjoy being with them and just look forward to growing our friendship. They are a really amazing couple!

We have prayed for a long time that God would give us at least 8-10 people by the time we start. We are now up to 6 and look forward to who else he will bring to be a part of this.

Overall we just want to praise God for the way he is abundantly providing for us. We don't function out of a mentality that he owes us or anything, but it is a good reminder during times like this that he does answer our prayers and enjoys providing richly for us (I don't mean he gives us a lot of money, let's please not go there). So praise the Lord with us!

How We View the Poor

One of the things we will make a priority with our church is serving our community, and specifically the poor/oppressed. I was reading an article by Mark Buchanan called Wreck the Roof about the ways they've had to change their focus as a church in order to really reach out to the needy and came across a great quotation. He is talking about a program they do where they give backpacks with school supplies to the children of single parents. Before they begin he meets with the volunteers from his church and here is what he tells them.

"Today, you are Christ's voice, his hands, his feet, his eyes, his heart. If these people see Jesus, it will be in you. And, like Christ, we are doing more than rendering a service. We are loving them as ourselves. We are not just serving, but having Jesus' attitude--being in very nature servants.

"Life and circumstances, and ofthen their own bad choices, have taken many things from these people. But what each of them needs most today is not clothes or a new backpack or an oil change. We can give all those things and fail to give the one thing needed, or even worse: we might give all those gifts with one hand, and with the other strip them further of the one thing needed.

"The one thing needed is dignity. It is their sense of being loved and worth loving. It is their sense of their infinite value in the eyes of God, and in the eyes of God's people. If we give all those other things today but don't give them dignity, we fail. Today, give the one thing needed. Today, we host kings and queens, princes and princesses. Let us act accordingly."

I nearly cry every time I read the last two sentences. So often we see the poor as projects at best and a nuisance at worst. If we serve them with that attitude we will do more to push them down then to give them a hand.

Once in Denver I pulled up to a stoplight and there was a man begging on the corner. I rolled down my window and here's how our conversation went.

"Hello."
"Hello"
"What's your name?"
"My name's Abraham."
"Hi Abraham. My name's Trevor. I'm sorry I truly don't have anything I can give you today, but I just wanted to say hi. It's got to get tough being out here all day."
"Thanks man. I lost my job two weeks ago and haven't been able to get another job. I've been putting in applications but nothing's come through. I really hate being out here and just want to find some work so I don't have to be."
At this point the light turned green.
"Well, I will pray that you get work soon."
"Hey, thanks for saying hi. You don't know how much that means."

The look in his eyes is one I'll never forget. When he told me it meant a lot that I said hi it was like he had been given hope. That seems wierd to me, to get that from someone saying hi, but I've never had to beg on a street corner, so I can't know what that does to you.

I don't tell this story to say I'm great or something. I shudder to think how many times I haven't stopped to say hi or how much I should have done and didn't. My point is that dignity is important. I can't imagine how humiliating it would be to stand on a street corner and ask for money. Or how humiliating it would be to go apply for welfare. We can do so much good by treating the poor as the equals they are. We cannot forget this point if we really want to please God.

June Is a Key Month

I was able to spend some extended time in prayer for Infuse over the weekend, and I realized that June is a really key month for the development of this network. Trevor and I have decided to fast one meal a week throughout this month, and I'd love to have you do the same if you feel led.

We're going to fast every Wednesday's lunch in June, starting this Wednesday, June 6. This will help protect and prepare us, and we want to be plugged into, and at the center of, what God wants for us and this ministry.

Whether you decide to join us or not, I do ask that you pray with us on these key requests:

--That we'd be protected from Satan during this time. Temptations and low points are probably imminent as we're embarking on something that pulls us into territory that Satan does not want us to go.

--Affordable housing in Aurora for Trevor and Michelle. Please pray that opportunities will arise soon, and something could be nailed down in June to prepare the way for them to move to Aurora in July.

--A job for Trevor that integrates well with his schedule and doesn't take too much time away from his family and the development of Infuse.

--Paperwork and processes. Trevor has made great progress with articles of incorporation, website, logo, budget, fundraising and support, but much of this is tedious.

--Support. Trevor has the opportunity to preach and talk about this ministry, meet with churches, and share our vision alot in June. Please pray that God will provide what is needed.

--Excitement and anticipation. We want to stay positive and have a soft heart for people that need to hear about Jesus. Pray that we don't get so bogged down into the details that we forget about loving people.

Thanks for your support and friendship! We couldn't do this without a strong network of other people.

My (A)Spiritual Situation

As we move toward starting our church, I have spent the last week primarily on articles of incorporation, bylaws, and a budget proposal. None of these strikes me as a particularly spiritual endeavor. In fact, the month we have been in Huntington has been somewhat a-spiritual for me. The passion God grew in me to begin this church that drove me to Him in so many ways in the months leading up to our departure from Denver has been buried under paperwork. This gets compounded by the fact that I fight regressing to the person I was growing up. It's funny how location can have power over us mentally and emotionally.

I digress. Last weekend I was on my way back from Aurora after a great weekend with friends from college, and during the last twenty minutes of my drive I started having some horrible fears that I've never had in my life. I quickly became aware that they were from Satan, and I began to pray that God would take them away. Despite my prayers, they grew in intensity all the way home. They have subsided now, but that evening was a strong reminder to me that we are involved in something intensely spiritual. Though I don't enjoy the attack, I took a couple important things from it.

First, we must be doing something Satan doesn't want us to do. In my experience and in the experience of others I've talked to, that is when attacks seem to come most. Second, I'm thankful for the reminder that I am desperately in need of strength from God. I may be able to fill out paperwork on my own, but I can't fulfill his call on my life on my own. I was grateful to be reminded of my dependence on Him.