Entries Tagged 'Spiritual Formation' ↓

Christ-followers are servants!

We want to raise Ethan in a culture where serving God and others is part of the DNA. A culture where serving God/others is part of the DNA is a culture which says …

It’s not about me!

Rick Warren begins his book, The Purpose-Driven Life, with the words, “It’s not about you.”

“We want to raise Ethan in a culture where serving God and others is part of the DNA.”

We all come into the world, it seems, thinking everything revolves around us. And it first, maybe it does. In fact, for the first 8+ weeks of our time with Ethan, we will both be on parental leave. During this time, we will very much be focused on Ethan! And we can hardly wait!

But as Ethan grows, we want his world to expand beyond himself. It’s an unhealthy attitude for any of us to have that believes, “it’s all about me.”

To help instill a servant culture in our home, we will need to find ways, as a family, to serve — God, each other, others in our church family, and others in the world.

A servant’s heart is a surrendered heart. Jesus demonstrated total surrender like no one else. Perhaps it was because Jesus was reared in a home with a servant culture. He had a mother and father who showed him what surrendered lives look like. As a young (betrothed) wife, Mary was approached by an angel with a mind-boggling opportunity to raise God’s Son. (See Luke 1.26-38.)

Mary, more than a little confused, tried to figure out what it meant. In end, she demonstrated total surrender, saying …

I am the Lord’s servant! Let it happen as you have said.

Now, that’s the kind of attitude we want to help Ethan develop! Of course, that means *we* will need to model that kind of surrender. IOW, shaping a servant culture, a culture where serving God/others is part of the DNA, comes with a pretty big price tag!

This is the fifth part in a series of reflections on the kind of culture we want to create in our home, especially for Ethan. Previously, we’ve written about shaping a Leadership Culture, a God-centered culture, a learning culture, and a high AQ culture. I have a couple other ideas on my list. I’ll try to write about those in the next few days as we prepare to bring Ethan home.

Regular readers of our blog will know that we are thinking a lot about parenting these days as we prepare to bring Ethan home from Korea. Part of our thinking recently has been about how best to pray for him — now and in the years to come!

Randy recently posted several prayers for the journey. These will be good, especially down the road as Ethan begins to make more decisions for himself. “Praying the scriptures is a powerful way to pray!”

We’ve just begun to gather some scriptures that we want to incorporate into our prayers for Ethan. Here’s what we’ve collected so far …

For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs. (Zephaniah 3.17)

Ephesians 6.1-4 offers some valuable praying material. Here, Paul admonishes children, “obey your parents,” and “honor your father and mother,” noting that “this is the first commandment with a promise: If you honor your father and mother, ‘things will go well for you, and you will have a long life on the earth.’” But Paul also cautions parents, “do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.” Good stuff to pray.

I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. Ephesians 1.16-20

When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3.14-21)

A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere. (Ephesians 6.10-18)

Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault. All glory to him who alone is God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are his before all time, and in the present, and beyond all time! Amen. (Jude 1.24-25)

Well, this should get us started. We believe that praying the scriptures is a powerful way to pray. If praying the scriptures is unfamiliar to you, here’s an example …

O God, we give you all the glory, for who you who and for all you have blessed us with. Thank you so much for blessing us with Ethan. God, you are able to keep Ethan from falling away. We trust, O God, that you will bring him with great joy into your glorious presence without a single fault. All glory to you, who alone are God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are yours before all time, and in the present, and beyond all time! Amen.

The idea is simply to incorporate the language of scripture into your prayers. In some cases you can use the actual language; other times, you may need to change it into the form of a prayer.

Some resources we found online (although we know little about them) that look like they might be worth checking out if you’d like more resources: Praying the Scriptures for Your Children (2001) and Praying the Scriptures for Your Teenager: Discover How to Pray God’s Will for Their Lives (2007), both by Jodie Berndt.

Also check out Kevin Martineau’s recent piece on praying for our children.

What do you pray when you pray for your children? What Scriptures do you pray for them? Feel free to share in the comments section.

Awhile back I (Randy) was thinking about my life as a Christ-follower and I thought about the importance of the following three words: know, honor, and obey.

Know God. Honor God. Obey God. It doesn’t get much more basic than that!

Three important words for Christ-followers are know, honor, and obey! Shortly after beginning to think about these three words, I read through Isaiah and came across the following words in Isaiah 11.1-3 (CEV) …

Like a branch that sprouts from a stump, someone from David’s family will someday be king. The Spirit of the LORD will be with him to give him understanding, wisdom, and insight. He will be powerful, and he will know and honor the LORD. His greatest joy will be to obey the LORD.

Later I was reading John 17.3-4 (CEV) where Jesus says …

Eternal life is to know you, the only true God, and to know Jesus Christ, the one you sent. I have brought glory to you here on earth by doing everything you gave me to do.

Know God. Honor God. Obey God.

We recently posted a prayer guide for leaders that’s a couple of years old. We’ve since started working on a prayer guide for married couples. This guide grows out of a desire for us to be more intentional about praying together and/or praying for one another. It’s a work-in-progress, which means it will probably go through a lot of revisions in the next few weeks (and will always change according to our needs), but we thought we’d go ahead and post it, so, here it is. Of course, you may have to tweak it to fit your own needs.

Couples’ Prayer Guide

Sunday :: Surrender

• Pray that we will be completely yielded to God.
• Pray that we will be whole-hearted in our devotion to God.
• Pray that we be persistent and persevering on the journey.

Monday :: Character / Integrity

• Pray for one another’s character development.
• Pray for one another’s purity.
• Pray that our character always outpaces our gifts.

Tuesday :: Marriage

• Pray that we maintain/grow a loving relationship.
• Pray that we maintain oneness/intimacy.
• Pray that we communicate well.

Wednesday :: Parenting

• Pray for God’s wisdom.
• Pray that our home will be a place of peace.
• Pray that we will “train up” our child well.

Thursday :: Growth

• Pray for one another’s spiritual growth.
• Pray that we remain committed to being lifelong learners.
• Pray for one another’s gift development.

Friday :: Health / Well-Being

• Pray for one another’s health and well-being.
• Pray that we consistently exercise and eat well.
• Pray that we consistently take time off each day, days off each week, and vacation time.

Saturday :: Legacy / Impact

• Pray that our lives impact others.
• Pray that we remain good stewards.
• Pray that we make a difference for eternity.

Fasting is an overlooked ancient spiritual discipline that helps Christ-followers grow spiritually.

I grew up in a tradition where fasting was an observed discipline. I grew up hearing stories of men and women who fasted, anywhere from one day to days at a time. In recent years, Joleen and I have been practicing the Wesley Fast (see World Methodist Council for more info), which involves fasting following the Thursday evening meal until mid-afternoon on Friday.

There are other ways to fast, of course, including the Daniel Fast, which is essentially a 21-day partial fast. To begin this year, Ed Young, lead pastor of Fellowship Church, taught a series on fasting and led the church in observing the Daniel Fast.

We are interested in the Daniel Fast, and are currently planning when/how we will do so. It’s also possible I/we will do it along with a sermon series and lead my/our congregations in the discipline as well. I could do this to begin 2008, or if I wanted to do it earlier, could do it in conjunction with “back-to-school” time (both of these times are fresh starts).

Fellowship Church have some helpful resources on their site, including: Fasting Details, Devotionals, and Recipes.

If you attend one of the churches Joleen and I serve, we’d like to hear from you about how interested you are in this becoming a church-wide observance. We’d also be interested in comments from those outside the area.

Stay tuned!

Eugene Peterson on how life slowly, almost unnoticeably leaks.

I love the stuff Eugene Peterson writes. He’s best known perhaps for his recent work, translating/paraphrasing the Scriptures in The Message. When I was in seminary I read some of his books; in fact, his book, The Contemplative Pastor, was one of the most impacting books I read back in the early 1990s.

Now that he has completed The Message, Peterson has returned to writing, and he’s churning out the books like crazy. We have three of them (I think there are currently four), so far, but may not get to them till after graduation next spring. However, Joleen and I are occasionally reading together a little from one of his latest books, Living the Resurrection. A section we read last night especially grabbed my attention (emphasis added):

It’s a curious thing but not uncommon for Christians to begin well and gradually get worse. Instead of progressing like a pilgrim from strength to strength, we regress. Just think of the Christians you really admire. Aren’t most of them recent converts? Isn’t it exciting? Then think of the Christians that you’re just bored to death with. Aren’t they people who have been Christians for forty or fifty years? They are wearing out—not just in body but in everything else too. There are exceptions, of course.

We lose our vitality. We become dull. We continue to go through these life-affirming, Christ-honoring motions, but our hearts are no longer in it.

The regression is rarely dramatic. It’s not sudden. We start out with life, life, life, and more life. God is primary and present in all we do. But then while we’re happily and innocently going about our work, our feet get tangled up in those cords of Sheol, those ropes of death. It is so casual at first that we hardly notice. But then one cord gets attached—who knows how?—to an ankle by a double half hitch. Then there’s another and another. Before we know it, we are regressing. We are hobbled. We become less. We lose the immediacy, spontaneity, and exuberance of resurrection life.

Interestingly, this often takes place at the same time we’re becoming successful in the eyes of our peers, associates, employers, or congregations. But the life is leaking out. God and life have become disconnected.

As we read that, I thought about the necessity of both gifts and character. In the beginning, we have only undeveloped gifts and we know we need God. But as our gifts develop, if we’re not careful, we begin to rely more and more on our own gifts, and therefore, rely on God less. As the life leaks out, our gifts outpace our character and that leads to all kinds of problems!

Like all leaders, I want to continually grow and develop my (God-given) gifts, but no matter how much my gifts develop, I must be intentional about maintaining my connection with God and growing/developing my character. Truth is, my (God-given) gifts are only of real value when my character is at least as developed as my gifts.

What are you doing to guard against the inevitable leaking of life?

Song from the movie “Music & Lyrics” makes a good prayer.

Awhile back we watched the movie Music & Lyrics on DVD. It’s a romantic comedy that Joleen, particularly, wanted to watch. At first, it was just an okay movie, but overall, it was a good movie, especially if you like romantic comedies.

Music & Lyrics is about a washed-up 80s pop singer, Alex Fletcher (Hugh Grant), who is given an opportunity to write a song for a top young musician. Unfortunately, he’s only given a couple days to do it. His strength has always been writing music, not lyrics. During the couple of days he meets a writer, Sophie Fisher (Drew Barrymore), who seems to have a knack for composing lyrics. The movie is about the development of their relationship, how music and lyrics go together.

Anyway, toward the end of the movie Alex composes and sings a love song that I think makes a great prayer, especially the ending …

“And now I know I’ve already blown more chances than anyone should ever get. All I’m asking you is don’t write me off just yet, don’t write me off just yet.”

God is constantly at work in us, molding and shaping us into the people he wants us to be. Sometimes we yield and surrender and God is able to form us. Sometimes we resist, and God’s formational work in us gets much harder. Sometimes I just want to say to God: “Don’t write me off just yet!”

There’s a line drawn down the middle of the room. Step up to the line if you ever …*

• Heard God call, but hurried on with “life”.
• Spent more time in prayer asking God for things than asking God what He wanted for you or your loved one.
• Put up walls to keep others (and God) out.
• Forgot to say “thank you.”
• Were tempted to go out and get what the Jones’s have, even if you didn’t need it and couldn’t afford it.
• Thought of self, before thinking of others.
• Hurt somebody.
• Ran away from the very thing needed most.

There’s an altar. Come kneel before your God in humble submission.

• Here I am. I wait.
• I’m listening.
• Heal the hurt.
• Thank you.
• All I have belongs to You.
• Here is my neighbor; I love as I love myself.
• I’m sorry.
• Here I am.

Hear God’s response: You are forgiven.*This is the concept of the “Line Game” introduced in the movie, Freedom Writers, which we wrote about recently.

In prayer, sometimes you need to surrender, sometimes you need to persist.

In July 2005, we had a class with Drs. Jim & Molly Scott called, “The Transformation of the Church.” It was a very dynamic and incredible experience. One of the things that I remember most was a statement about prayer. Molly said that when we pray about a particular thing, we either need to surrender or persist.

In Scripture, there are people who surrendered regarding an issue/need: Paul, who prayed for God to remove his “thorn in the flesh,” finally had to surrender. The ultimate example was Jesus, who surrendered to God’s will in the Garden of Gethsemane, when he prayed, “not my will, but yours be done.”

There were also other people who persisted. Several women in the Old Testament were barren. They persisted in their prayers, and God eventually provided answers to their requests. In the New Testament, Jesus tells a story about a woman who pestered an “unjust judge” until she received her request.

Truth is, both surrender and persistence are part of the Christ-following journey. We must do both. The art is knowing which one is right/best for a given circumstance. Unfortunately, there’s no formula, but here’s what I try to do: unless and until I have a strong sense that God is leading me to surrender about a request or issue, I am going to be persistent!

Jesus said, “Keep on asking, and you will be given what you ask for. Keep on looking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And the door is opened to everyone who knocks” (Matthew 7.7-8).

Think about the things you are praying about currently. What areas might you need to fully surrender to God? In what areas might you just need to persist?

A youth devotional using “Night at the Museum”

A few weeks ago, at a youth lock-in, I shared the following devotion with the youth based on the movie, Night at the Museum.

What makes you happy? What do you enjoy doing? When was the last time you did something that really made you happy?

There is much talk about the search for happiness. In the Christ-following life we go beyond speaking of happiness to that of the real joy we find in Christ. We believe that in Christ we can live fulfilled lives.

Where and in what ways do you see people search for happiness? These may be the right or wrong places to search, in your opinion. (These may include relationships, marriage, jobs, hobbies, extreme sports, God, success, money, accomplishments, etc.)

God’s Word promises, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29.11, also 12-14a)

God has a plan for each of our lives. How do we find that plan? How do we choose what we do? Some choices are not right or wrong, so how do we choose between two good choices? Who influences our decisions (friends, parents, authority figures, TV, media, celebrities, advertisements)? What influences our decisions (personal motivation, giftedness, want to impress or please others)?

During my senior year of high school, the volleyball coach wanted me to play volleyball. We were just getting a volleyball team started, and during gym class, the coach and I discovered that I had a pretty mean serve. But I was soon heading off to college to major in music education. My mother thought I should be devoting my time to music. What was the right decision? What did I want to do?

In “Night at the Museum,” Larry was a dreamer and an inventor. But that wasn’t paying the bills. His successful ex-wife was threatening to cut off his relationship with their son, Nicky, because Larry’s lack of employment was difficult on their son. A conversation follows between Larry and Nicky.

Hey, Nicky, look at me. Look at me, man. I wanna tell you something’. I know that things have been kinda up and down for me lately and that’s been hard for you. But I really feel like my moment’s coming and when it does, everything’s just gonna come together. You know?What if you’re wrong and you’re just an ordinary guy who should get a job?

Larry sets out to find a job and he is plunged into a challenging situation. And beyond the negative voices of his ex-wife and the career counselor, and the doubts of his son, Larry finds an encouraging voice in Teddy Roosevelt.

Welcome to the family, Lawrence. See you tomorrow night.Well—Oh, actually, I gotta be honest. I don’t thing I’m coming back.What? You’ve just begun.Yeah. Well, this is not exactly what I—Lawrence!Yeah?What did you do before you took this post?Uh. Well, I’ve done a lot of different things. I, um—I invented this thing called the Snapper.Did you give up on that as well.No. I didn’t. No, I just hit a few roadblocks. You might have heard of the Clapper.Lawrence.Yes, sir.Some men are born great. Others have greatness thrust upon them. For you, this is that very moment.

It took someone else seeing Larry’s gifts to spur him on to action. God is at work in you revealing who you are yet to become, revealing the gifts that he has given you. God’s Word says, “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1.6)Be thankful for the gifts God has given you, and tell someone else the gifts and talents you see in them.