A Tale of Two Boys

There were two 10 year old boys each with the same heart problem, neither of them were aware of the problem. Jacob and Nick had no idea that they had a problem. One day, Jacob was playing football he had a pretty serious injury and had significant internal and external bleeding.

He was rushed to the hospital and they were able to stabilize his bleeding, but it was certain that we was going to spend the next month in the hospital and be in a great deal of pain. He would not be able to play again for at least a full year.

During his time in the hospital doctors did a series of tests and found that he had a heart problem. Doctors told him that the injury probably saved his life because the doctors knew about the problem they were able to do a procedure on his heart and give him medication that would protect his heart.

Nick, meanwhile remained ignorant of his heart problem. It was a problem that could have been fixed had he known about it. It was a problem that would cause heart failure and Nick's death at the age of 17.

Psalm 51:8 says, "Let the bones that you have broken rejoice." North Church wrote a song years ago that uses that verse in a line. The next line is, "My brokenness has caused me to look up and my eyes have seen your perfect love."

Last night I watched my son wrestle through a difficult night. His anger, his selfishness, his lack of self control were in full display. As I laid with him in his bed, I observed his anger, selfishness and self control issues break him. He was in great pain and tears filled his face. The Holy Spirit was at work in this little boy and new follower of Christ.

I told him the allegory about Nick and Jacob and told him that while this pain is hard and it sucks to have it come out of you in such ugly ways, there is great benefit to knowing that a deadly disease lies within you.

I love my son and I love you. My prayer for my son, myself and for you is that we would not run from our sin and that we would not run from apprehension of our sin. It can be a valuable tool that causes us to see our neediness and the greatness of a God who rich is grace and in mercy.

Psalm 41:17  

As for me, I am poor and needy,

but the Lord takes thought for me.

You are my help and my deliverer;

do not delay, O my God!

Psalm 86:1

Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me,

for I am poor and needy.

Psalm 109:22

For I am poor and needy,

and my heart is stricken within me.

Thanks for reading.

The Faithful

Psalm 31:23

B.

“Love the Lord, all you His saints!  The Lord preserves the faithful but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.”

Many people have a tendency to believe the defining virtue of Christians to be their love.  And I suppose this may be true in some cases (but even in those only in certain situations) though I do not believe it to be true in all cases—even most cases—that the Christian faith or any particular individual within the faith is primarily defined by love.  It is true that love is the superior virtue inasmuch as it is the culmination of all virtue and good judgment.  However, to compare ourselves against the fulfillment of all virtue is about as helpful as trying to find a gray scale in the midst of the color black.  We are given instruction in virtue and it is certainly true that we must pursue what God commands us to value in the way He commands us to do so, but it is certainly not true that we are able to properly embody any virtue at any given time in our lives.  To believe that our faith is defined by the proper expression of virtue is to be misinformed about Christianity and about virtue itself.  In fact, I find that this misguided belief about the Christian faith and its virtue is what unbelievers believe about Christians, and it is why they believe they are justified in bringing accusations against the sincerity of Christian individuals.  For a Christian to hold this belief will, at best, lead to disillusionment with the faith, or at worst, cause them to become at odds with it through failure or self-righteousness.

            Like all things in creation, our identity in Christ is built into us—taught to us—in various ways, both physically recognizable and spiritually mysterious, through the investment of the one resource characteristic of all things worth having—time.  By virtue of this reality, we as Christians are in unique places and at individual levels of maturity at all times. This process is not facilitated by our ways but by God’s, and for this reason, none can be judged by the flawed perception of sinful man, since virtue, ultimately, is not an act of the body but motive of the heart.  Though expression of virtue uncharacteristic to the world is what we are seeking, we must be sure we are seeking God—the giver of virtue—and not virtue itself, lest we mistakenly find our own selves to be the object of our affection.  That being said, I believe the most fundamental and practical virtue of our faith, and also the one that sets us apart from the very beginning, is not love, but faithfulness.

            Notice that when Paul takes the time in his letters to describe the saints as a whole, he does not call them ‘the loving’, ‘the gentle’, or ‘the good’, but the faithful.  He says, ‘Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.  Moreover, it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.’  Faithfulness is a peculiar virtue in that it is not defined so much by the quality of an action, but by the presence of action.  It is the resolve to act according to one’s commitments in spite of all circumstances.  Is not this where all virtue begins—perseverance leading to character?  I cannot, with honesty, proclaim that I have ever shown love with complete sincerity.  I am far too aware of the grumblings and of the resistance in my heart.  What I can do, however, is to act according to what I can perceive love to be—small as my perception may be.  All virtue is defined as virtue only if it is done in spite of vice.  We turn the other cheek though our bodies ache to revile.  We give our last dollar though we groan from selfishness.  We fall on our knees in prayer though our hearts persuade us that God is not listening or that He does not care.  Spiting vice makes spite, in this case, a virtue.  It is faithfulness to the commitment we have given Christ, and to the stewardship we have been given in return, in Christ, not to embody virtue, but to act according to virtue.

            Our comfort is this: before we are able to achieve sincerity in the faith and joy in love, we must first discipline our bodies to the virtue of faithfulness, and fortunately, faithfulness has far more to do with what we do than how we do it.  It is the one virtue that we may do with sincerity since it only requires showing up to the place we have been called and doing what we have been called to do.  We let God deal with our evil hearts.  John says, “For, whenever our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts and He knows everything.”  This means that it does not matter how we feel about our personalities or our sincerity in the practical outpouring of our faith.  Do not cringe when the world or our hearts condemn us as hypocrites.  For neither has the authority to judge, but only God, Himself, knows all things.  We are not called to impress man, but to seek God in all that we do, being faithful to Him and what He commands us to perform in spite of our ability to maintain the substance of what we seek.  So, be faithful in all that you do, seeking God and doing for Him first.  For it is faithfulness that will begin to define our love and shape it since it is faithfulness, first, that defines God’s love as that which never fails.  We must remember that He is faithful even when we are not.  But, because of His faithfulness, even in failure we have an ability to be faithful if we use our inadequacy to draw closer, by grace, to Him who offers us His infinite sufficiency

Preparing for the new series coming Sunday

Back on Sept 10, 2012, a group of people began a journey together studying the topic of the Holy Spirit.  Like you would envision any Bible Study, we had our Bibles and journals, there was teaching and discussion, people were challenged as they left each week.   We prayed together, fellowshipped together and enjoyed good food together.  It was definitely a great time.  But little did we know that the Lord was up to something so much bigger than we realized.  But why should we be surprised?!?!  Each time we met, we all physically got on our knees and begged for the Holy Spirit to yes fill us, teach us, and transform us.  But most of all we invited the living God, by his living Spirit, to take us on a journey…to make us aware of his indwelling presence, to allow us to hear is voice, to fill us with his power.  And because we longed so deeply to go on a journey of learning the ropes of living a spirit-filled life, we took seriously the Spirit's leading in our lives every other day of the week.  We wrote specific steps of obedience on note cards and sought to be intentional in our obedience to the Holy Spirit.  The results were powerful.  Each week people came back sharing crazy steps of obedience.  Things they never thought they could do, like forgiving a person who wronged them or seeking to restore a broken relationship or trying to start a spiritual conversation with a non-Christian…these were steps of obedience that had only resulted in failure and shame in the past.  God was at work by his Spirit and literally began answering our prayers.  We saw power where we were typically weak and comfort where we were prone to despair.  People were awakened to the reality that the living God resided in them and was their means to living the Christian life. 

Then birthed out of that groups was a smaller group that longed for more of the power of the Spirit in our lives.  For the past few months we've been meeting, studying, fasting and praying for a move of God by His Spirit to be UNLEASHED in our lives and in our church.  And I'm excited to say that the Father is up to something.  How do I know you ask?  Well the short answer is - He told us.  The longer answer is - when you surrender yourself to the Spirit of God and ask for a move of God, it's a prayer to which He won't say no.

The next three Sundays you will begin to catch a glimpse of the work God is up to.  The name of the series is "UNLEASHED" and we will look at what it means that we as Christians have LIFE in the Spirit, POWER by the Spirit and PURPOSE through the Spirit.  My goal is to paint a biblical picture of what happens to our lives when we let the living God UNLEASH His Spirit into our souls and out through our lives.  It's going to be powerful and I want to help you be prepared for what I believe will begin to change the spiritual landscape of our church.

Here is simply what I'm asking you to do for the next 3 Sundays (3rd, 10th, 17th):

  1. Pray on your ride to church - On your car ride to church for the next 3 Sundays will you pray out loud, with whoever is in your car, asking for God to be unmistakably present.
  2. Arrive to church on time - for the next 3 Sundays the sermon will be toward the beginning of the service so don't be late or you'll miss the beginning.
  3. Be ready to respond - a lot more emphasis and time will be given for responding to the Lord.  This is why the sermon will be toward the beginning, so we can really engage in obedience to his Spirits leading in response to the preaching of His Word.
  4. Pray this simple prayer - "God make me aware of your Holy Spirit."

I'm excited and can't wait for Sunday and I couldn't be more convinced that the Lord has something POWERFUL in store for us.   Will you join me in praying and expecting to that end?


May we never be the same!!!

Dave

5 Ways to Develop a Devotion to Prayer

1. Pray- This is probably the best way to develop a devotion to prayer, just start doing it. Sacrifice, be consistent, pray everyday at the same time in the same place.
2. Ask God for it- Scripture says that you do not have because you do not ask. Ask God to give you a devotion for prayer.
3. Pray in community- God designed us for community. 
• Have someone or a group if people that pray with and pray for. 
• Text people that you are praying for them, ask them what you can pray for. 
• Develop prayer groups that meet with consistency. You do not have to be a pastor or leader to gather some close friends and start praying. 
• Find someone today to pray with or text with about your prayers. 
•  Share your journals with someone.
4. Pray the Psalms- They provide you with the revealed heart, character and personality of God. They give you a rounded perspective of who he is. They help you to commune with God. 
5.   Realize your need- At the heart of prayer is an acknowledgement that we are in need and the one you pray to can fulfill that need. This is the gospel here. We have a need, burden, a desire for relationship, a realized hunger inside of us that is filled by God. He is ready and waiting and accepting of you in full as you are.

From my prayer time

With 2013 being a year where we seek to lead North Church and others to prayer and communion with God, I want to post times some thoughts from my times of prayer and how I am praying.

Typically I will read a Psalm (I am going in order each day) just after I wake up and then allow that Psalm to set the mood for my prayer that morning and throughout the day. Yesterday I read Psalm 40. Two verses stuck in my head and provided the focus for my prayer and desire to commune with God.

40:1 I waited patiently for the LORD; he inclined to me and heard my cry. 
40:4 Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust.

These verses led me pray something like this, "God teach me to trust you, teach me to wait patiently for you. I want to have an immediate response to trouble of patience and trust in your will and work." God would you burn that into me? Make me a man of patience and trust. God you promise to draw hear and incline your ear to the patient. You promise to make your self known to the one who trusts you. God I want you for the sake of you and not for my circumstances to change. God teach me and show me patience and trust." 

Throughout the day, I said and thought to myself, "wait patiently...blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust." I got a chance to connect with a close friend about a life situation he was wrestling with. These meditation and prayers were just exactly what God was pushing him toward. 

Later, I had two meetings. One with a baseball team for Cooper and another for church. I was feeling overwhelmed and easily agitated and frustrated. I knew it was happening. The trust and patience meditation were no longer winning. The present overwhelming was winning. So, as I went to bed, those meditations came back into my mind and I prayed as I fell asleep and asked God to allow patience and trust to rule.

Thanks for reading!

A Vision for Prayer in 2013

Yesterday, I cast North Church's vision for making 2013 a year that is focused around prayer. I am blogging some of my notes for those who were not in attendance yesterday and for those who read this who do not attend North Church.

Some of the items in the notes were not touched on yesterday.

A Vision for Prayer in 2013

There may be no greater tool for God to use to change us than consistent, fervent prayer.

“The man- God’s man- is made in the closet. His life and his most profound convictions are born in his communion with God.”

EM Bounds

The vision for prayer in 2013-

1.     Consistent- (Luke 22:39-41) Pray on the same days at the same times each week. This will develop habits and habits begin to make patterns. This will change you.

2.     Alone- (Luke 22:41)

a.     Pray by yourself, this develops intimacy and you can have freedom to sing, argue, make mistakes, read, be repetitive like to Psalm, meditate.

b.     Find your prayer closet.

                                               i.     In your car on your way to work. This is a quiet and consistent routine based opportunity.

                                              ii.     Shower. This is what I do. God uses the idea of cleansing to teach me daily and remind me. It is also a quiet and restful place.

                                            iii.     Actual closet.

                                            iv.     Next to your bed. Many married couples require different amounts of sleep or have different schedules. Many times Jen will be finishing up a project and I am just looking for something to do. Kneel next to the bed and pray.

3.     Sacrificially-

a.     Fasting. There will be more to come in the next few weeks sermons about fasting. But, at the heart of fasting is to connect with the heart of God and at the heart of fasting is sacrifice with the express understanding that God can provide.

b.     Wake up early. God will bless this. I love sleep and I hate to wake up before I have to. God will bless this. Sacrifice.

c.      Skip a lunch. Not necessarily fasting, but giving up of time that is “yours” in the middle of the day to seek God.

4.     Model- Your leaders have been doing this for a couple of months now. We do not want to call you to something that we have not been pursing for a while.

a.     Elders have been praying since for this and in this since November.

b.     Deacons have been praying since December.

c.      We are calling the church body to it today.

5.     What to pray/How to Pray-

a.     Allow God to direct this. Foremost, spend sometime with God and allow him to direct this, allow these words to serve as a guide.

b.     Some direction:

                                               i.     Books to help/guide/shepherd your praying mindset:

1.     Everyday Prayers by Scotty Smith.

2.     A Praying Life by Paul Miller.

3.     Humility by Andrew Murray.

4.     Abide in Christ by Andrew Murray.

                                              ii.     Read the Psalms. Read them by day. On the first of the month read Psalm 1 etc. on the first of the second month read Psalm 32 etc. Do not feel obligated to read the entire Psalm. If a phrase in a Psalm connects with your heart, stop, meditate on it, think on it, pray it, memorize it, repeat it to yourself throughout the day, remember this is the WORD OF GOD he is using it to penetrate your spirit and remind you of a part of himself.

Psalm 32 in Practice::

When you see the word Selah, that is an instruction to stop and think deeply on what you just read.

Memorize, meditate, repeat phrases, think on concepts, pray them verbally.

Psalm 32:1 Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

For me with this Psalm, this simple verse launched me for a full week to guide my prayers. It directs the rest of the Psalm and leads me to actively ask forgiveness for specific sin.

Closing::

God will shape you and will continue to shape you as you develop this communion, the devotion and as you sacrifice, learn, and hunger for his presence in prayer and in meditation. Come and spend 2013 in prayer and communion with God.

We have been working through Ecclesiastes at North Church. It has been really hard because the book is very dark and depressing. Solomon is terribly redundant by saying that everything is meaningless. As I am honest with the text and with myself it leaves me in a dark place as I study to prepare to preach it.

Many times when studying or when I lay down to sleep or when I prepare to go to work or when I speak to my wife and children, I find myself asking why? I ask why on deep and on surface levels. When I lay down to sleep, I ask, "Why did I do what I did today?" When I correct or speak to my kids I ask, "Why am I doing what I am doing as a parent? What am I teaching my kids and how is this going to impact them?"

I stress over my kids, my family, the election, my church, the people who go to my church, the things that the people that go to my church stress over, my weekly sermon, stuff at the office that is left undone, what people at the office think of me and the job that I am doing, the future of North Church. Ecclesiastes leads me to think dark thoughts about these things and the stress that they bring to me.

As I prepare to preach the verses that I will preach this week, I note that they are especially dark and they remind me of my situation. Each of the things that I listed above that bring stress to me are pressing in presently. My mind reals and so I try to pray, but my disheveled mind goes back to carrying that stress like a super heavy backpack, even as I pray.

Then I am reminded of Psalm 131. Three short verses. These three verses are nourishment to my soul. Just as I am being nourished by it, "Great Is Thy Faithfulness" pops up on my study playlist.

We serve a faithful God. I would like to invite you to come and explore these ideas with us at 10:00 am this week at North Church (660 Charbonier in Florissant).