I think I am missing something

As a Christian I believe in following Christ with my whole life - heart, soul and mind. Does it mean that I never fail at that? No...But, I have been struggling with something that might reveal more about me than just my beliefs. I am disgusted by Christians hollering out that they are Christian. If I may explain...The tragedy of the Conn elementary school has everyone clamoring about this and that, some touting gun control, Gov. Huckabee statement about how times have changed and how we've estranged God in our schools, President Obama stating his agenda driven tout toward "change" during a special speech that I thought was supposed to be for the families of the victims and the area in general. I was appalled at how he used that as a platform to garner momentum for a "change" that he plans on pushing through. However, it was a moving touch to speak the names of all the children that lost their lives at the hand of a mad man. Even his telling of the story of the boy that knew karate and the heroic efforts of teachers was moving. If he would have only left it at that, he'd have gained a point or 2 in my book...but, he didn't. Not that it matters in the least what I think of his efforts.

I saw a facebook post where Gov. Huckabee released a statement or was interviewed and stated some pretty faith based suggestions. It was admirable to see him state those things knowing the ridicule that he'd endure because of it. Reading the responses is really what put me in the quandary I am in now. No, it wasn't all the people calling Gov. Huckabee a wacko or having an antiquated view of the world...it was all the people agreeing with him. The comments were, "Couldn't have said it better...", "I have been saying that all along.", "I totally agree with you!", "amen", "I stand with you!". Something about all those types of comments really started to eat at me. Where's the humility, where's the Christ first attitude. Where is "consider others interest above your own"? I feel like we, as Christians, owe more than lip service to the lost. I am probably missing something here. But, even pastors that I really respect from large churches in the area post some really opinionated...fire starters. For example, "I'm against other countries having nuclear weapons and my neighbors having semi-automatic weapons." While, fine in itself I suppose, as a pastor, why enter the realm of such a worldly topic? This guys knows his stuff, but it seems like we forget whose we are and focus our feelings on ourselves too often. I know I am super guilty of that. But, I don't see where that's encouraged scripturally....

Oh well, it's a sad, sad thing...it's a Genesis 3 world for sure.

Very busy

Well, I’ve been very busy lately. The job I work to put food on the table and such hasn’t been the culprit this time it’s been the part time job that consumes all my time. It’s a bit overwhelming…and to top it off, I don’t feel I put in the time for studies that I need  in order to ensure a quality lesson. So, there’s the weight of that as well. And for the icing on the cake, I don’t get the time with my own littles and when I do get the time I usually am so tired of the silliness and being “nice” that I am short with them. I am sure it makes for a pleasant experience for everyone. I definitely need to learn a balance with this. My thoughts plain and simple are: 1. My biological kids are missing out 2. The kids I am ministering to are needing more than I have to offer.

It must be an interesting dynamic for my family. I have always been the kind of dad that has very high expectations for his kids in everything. For them to participate in the ministry and see me be so “lenient” must be weird. I hope they realize that I am lenient in this way so I won’t treat the kids we minister to like the world treats them…always saying no, shut up, get out, etc. I want them to know that they are loved, wanted, important – yet they are so untrained and are inconsiderate, inappropriate and indecent for the most part. And similarly I am untrained in ministry…so, it’s an “interesting” combination. But, to have my kids see this…I wonder what they think . But, I don’t have time to ask them anyway… Poor, pitiful me, right? Yeah, I know.

It must be time to thin things out a bit, but, I don’t really know where to start. Well, that’s not entirely true, it’s just a place that I cling too tightly to and don’t want to give up. The things that consume my time when I am not working are entertainment type things – watching NFL, soccer, instructional guitar videos, golf lesson videos, looking on amazon for things to buy, searching craigslist for a riding mower and tiller, watching funny pranks on youtube. (Speaking of which look for the Brazilian elevator pranks…funny stuff). See how important that stuff is? Why should I have to give that stuff up? Well, the answer is obvious I guess..I just have to swallow the truth. The “why” is in paragraph one…the “why not” is my selfishness wanting the things I want.

I think one of the most amazing things about being a believer in Jesus is that fact that when we think we are losing something or sacrificing for His sake, we typically find out it’s for our own benefit. Kind of like the whole Sabbath for man thing. There are many things in life that are beneficial to me but I cling to the things that I believe I like because I am too ignorant to know any differently. Isn’t this one of the ways that God is audible?

Yesterday I learned of Thomas Chalmers paper on “The expulsive power of a new affection”. It’s where we make more room for the Love of God or the presense of God or the knowledge of God in our lives…and by it’s expansiveness, removes, by its nature, stuff that won’t fit anymore. It, in essence, squeezes it out. I used an illustration in church, a poor one but it was the only one I could think of…where you have a milk crate and that milk crate represents your life. And in the milk crate is all the whip cream of your life. The whip cream signifying sin, or bad habits (like selfish perusing of internet stuff) and in the middle of the whipped cream of your life is a deflated balloon…making more room for God in your life is like airing up the balloon. Just by the nature of physics, some of the deliciously evil whipped cream will ooze out of the crate, out of your life. That’s the expulsive power of a new affection…

Let's see, I have plenty of whipped cream, I just have to find a balloon…..

Theory on people

As I get older, I have tried to watch and listen to people more and try to be seen and heard less. It’s hard for me. I have a big mouth and love to hear myself speak. However, just through the short time that I have been attempting this I have developed a couple of theories on people –

1. Everyone thinks they know what’s best for everyone in almost every situation. Whether it’s politics, work, or a problem at home. Ask anyone, they’ll know what to do or what’s best. It’s the rare soul that will confess they don’t know. And if they do, my guess is that they already discovered my theory for themselves.
2. From my observations everyone thinks that their solution will help, not harm. This was an encouraging thought in some ways…that even the people that staunchly disagreed with my stance were not necessarily out to “get me”. We all have way too many solutions to offer. One of my pastor/mentor’s said it best – “Just because you’ve had an idea, doesn’t mean it’s the best one…or even good”. Well, I added the “even good” part – but still a very good saying.  
3. People are often adamant about something but will quickly change their tune when called on it. I knew someone that stated they would eat any way they wanted and die happy instead of adhering to any kind of diet to improve their health. When they developed a food consumption related illness that would lead to serious complications and death, they quickly changed their attitude. What happened to dying happy? This also happens even when death isn’t involved by the way. Have you ever heard (as the law was introduced), “I’ll never wear my seatbelt”…

Mostly, I think that we are a proud species and, when given advice that sounds contrary to our line of thinking, dismiss such things because it seems ridiculous and the giver of the advice appears weak…For example, my older friends used to always say, “After you turn 40, things ache when you wake up.” I would always think, “yeah, for you because your “X” while I’m “Y”.” – I was wrong. I didn’t want to believe what they said because I thought I was special in some way. Whether more intelligent, a more unique creature, a better physical specimen. Well, all those things are true, (just kidding) but I still ache when I wake up!

Yes, we should be slow to become angry, slow to speak, QUICK to listen!!! Just more practical advice from a God that loves us. No training or education or life experience will make this void. Now, if I would only remember to DO it.

Time is no friend

I play soccer as often as I can. There are several things I notice about soccer lately though. I rarely ever battle for the ball - I rarely ever run flat out as fast as I can - I am concerned about injury - I don't last very long. It appears that gone are the days where I was aggressive and could anticipate, react and move with speed. Well, actually, I do anticipate in my head, but the ol' body doesn't go when I think it should anymore. For example, I see that there's a a passing lane and the dribblers running out of options..I used to anticipate the pass by moving quickly to the passing lane for an interception - now I just watch the pass happen as I envisioned it. (Don't they call that dejavu or Jedi reflexes??)

Anyhow, I am sitting here typing at 4 in the morning after my head got flooded with thoughts when I woke for a minute in the night. No more juice before bed... ;-) That's about as far from something I would do when I was younger as anything else in the world.

Yesterday, we were looking at old photos of me as a baby..."didn't they have COLOR film then" is a question that constantly pops up in my mind. But, more serious things like, I don't remember THAT at all. I mean, that is me...but, I have NO recall of that photo. Of course, some were me wearing a diaper sitting in a high chair. But, others were me sitting next to my sister. Where were we when the photo was taken? How old was I? What was I thinking then? Wow, my mom and dad look younger than I look now......Where did I get that nice shirt? Questions just started pouring out of me.

THEN I realized something else. When I was looking at photos of MY oldest daughter as a baby, I couldn't remember stuff about those either. I am not really worried about alzheimer's right now...but the discovery, er, rather rediscovery that time is no friend started pounding my face in. This linear life we lead is too much like a road trip and not enough like a picture. When you're on a road trip you pass by miles and miles of stuff...how much of it do you remember or keep a memory of? A picture is a static piece of time that you capture. It "holds" where it is. It is essentially captured, eternal.

Finally, last night during date night we were watching a movie and I was confronted with the reality that we do live life like it's a road trip. We don't think about things anymore. We busy ourselves and call it "being productive". But, I don't plan things out. I don't make purposeful decisions after really careful thought. I am not prudent, shrewd or wise. I am impulsive, a gambler and piece of chaff floating in the wind to be led where it takes me. How do I capture important things? How do I live intentionally so that when I do something - it's of value...it's memorable? I don't know.

But life moves on and memories fade. It's too bad really because I have had an awesome life to this point...or, at least I think I have - I can't remember.

Looking toward the goal??

I've heard a saying that says you can't hit the goal if you don't aim at it. That's true...but what if it's a little more complicated than that. What if you don't know what the goal looks like or even what constitutes a goal? Can you imagine a golfer hitting the ball aimlessly not knowing that the "goal" is to put it in the cup designated by the flag? Oh, and by the way, that's only a small part of the goal. See, there are 18 of those cups and you want to get it in each with the fewest number of attempts possible. If you don't know that or only know part of it, you aren't going to do well. Even if you did great on one of the holes...that only counts for a small portion of the real goal which is to have a lower TOTAL number of strokes than the others.

Isn't that how we live out life? We pick and choose our "low scoring holes" like those are the only ones that matter. For example, I don't watch R rated movies. And, if I am not careful, I could easily become prideful in "suffering" for the Lord. Is not watching R rated movies really Gods best for me? Is that all there is? It is really silly to even think it. It might be part of the path in the entire plan of holiness that He wants...but, I can't choose that 1 thing and rest stating that I succeeded in holiness.

Holiness and being set apart is the entire 18 holes - where the clubhouse is heaven...the only place our score will matter. And it's not me against you or an opponent...it's me against the course. The course is my entire life...and like golf, there are many challenges I have to face, but they are all tied to the same goal. Each challenge by itself is not the entire goal. They make up a small part of it. Holiness is my goal. I am way over par.

What is it in me that does this?

Yesterday I found my headphones. I had been looking for them for about a month. I was happy. Should be, the end...headphones lost, searched, headphones found...happy!
 
For some reason, I started to recall my thoughts when I discovered they were lost. I am sure this happens to everyone, but as soon as I lost them I immediately began looking at those around me as suspects to the crime. Yes, crime. They STOLE my headphones. Yeah, I know...these headphones are the ones you jam in your ear and your earwax keeps them nice and snug...so, who'd want them, right? But, they ARE skull candy headphones. Not exactly the 9.99 specials. A little alcohol and they'd be as good as new...ok, maybe 2 treatments with alcohol...anyways, I digress...
 
STOLEN, because I knew I took excellent care of them and wouldn't misplace them so easily. I keep them in the cool little zipper case and everything. Like I said, they aren't the 9.99 cheapies and I take care of my junk... So, knowing all of that, you'd probably come to the same conclusion I came to...stolen. Yep.
 
Well you already know the end of the story, I found them. Apparently, they were too taken care of when I put them in my backpack. And, of course, as soon as I found them I remembered why I put them there. But, this post isn't about the headphones, it's about the thoughts that go from - "What did I do with them?" - to "What has SOMEONE ELSE done to me!?!!"
 
Thanks to Adam, father of us all, we are in a fallen world. Truthfully, if he hadn't a goofed it up, someone right behind him would have....and if not right behind him and everything was perfect, I would be the one. But, that's conjecture...Adam get's the "credit". In any case, sin abounds doesn't it? And the issue is that we all put ourselves on some sort of pedestal. We put ourselves beyond mistakes and personal ineptness and make ourselves victims. In Matthew 23:22-24 English Standard Version (ESV) states - ²² And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it.²³  "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. ²⁴ You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!
 
Yeah, what the heck does that have to do with this blog? Well, you probably already have figured it out. But, for me, it wasn't totally obvious. The principal issue is that the Pharisees were making/observing laws that were convenient to them while making them appear righteous and make it look like they were going the extra mile. Doing all that God required plus all the stuff that He "forgot" to tell Moses to tell us - yet the obvious, the "ought to", the "duh" is that we neglect the absolutely critical ones, the ones that are from Him...and in doing so have swallowed an unclean animal while picking out a tiny morsel of badness...That's me. This isn't a scripture that you say, "AHA! That's what I am doing." My headphones were lost. The obvious is that I lost them...yet I am righteous to myself and have blamed another for the loss - I was looking outside of the obvious...then swallowed crow, I mean a camel, when I found them.
 
 

What upsets you most?

I am listening to a book called "Not a Fan" - by Kyle Idleman. It's an extremely good listen although I am not finished yet. He was asking a series of questions geared toward identifying if Jesus is the appropriate recipient of the correct amount of affection and devotion...(which is all of it...I'll probably talk about that another time). One of the questions was "What upsets you most?".

 

One of the things I tend to do whether I am reading a book or listening to it is try to anticipate where the author is heading. But, when he asked what made me upset, I was thrown for a loop. Then he shared a story that was WAY to close to home. The summary of the story goes like this:

 

A father took his son fishing. His son was extremely excited to get to go and spend time with his dad. However, it was a bad day of fishing, They didn't get a single bite and as the day came to a close they packed up and headed home. The father was visibly irritated although silent.

 

The end.

 

Well, almost. Idleman went on to explain the meaning of the story. See, the point is that the father was more interested in catching fish than spending time with his son. Yeah, that's the point.

 

Now, back to my life and how that sentence affects me. First of all, because of who I am, I would slightly argue that just because they didn't catch fish and the dad was upset didn't mean that he didn't enjoy spending time withi his son. But, that's probably just because I am SO guilty of that behavior. When we get upset about something it's reflecting how strongly we feel robbed of the privilege of the success of the encounter. Was the encounter of the story to catch fish or build a relationship with his son? As I rewind this over and over again, I tend to agree more with Idleman. Then I rewind the past few weeks of my life..outbursts on the basketball court, disappointment in decisions of my children, dissatisfaction on how many times they have to be told something to get it right. All this highlights that I want things to be my way. I want to win, I want my kids to be intelligent, I want them to learn quickly....those things or ideas become more important than the person of my kids - and I get angry when they don't happen like I think they should.

 

That's the same in our relationship with the Lord. Am I putting myself and my desires above my commitment to follow Jesus. Are my frustrations actually just me throwing a fit about MY situation...  

This guy was reading my mind...

Here's an article I ran across. I was worried that it might "disappear" so I copied to mine. But, I didn't write one letter in this. However, it is definitely what was going through my mind. Read this and let me know your thoughts.

Youth-Owned Ministry

This post is part of a collection of articles sent as a follow-up to GYMN trainings. You can use these posts in your youth ministry. At the end of the article are questions for you to reflect on or for your youth leadership team to discuss.

Several years ago I found myself tired, discouraged and frustrated with the ministry to youth that I was involved with in North Philadelphia (USA).  I had been a youth pastor at a small urban church for about 5 years and had tried all the things I had ever read and heard that I was supposed to do to be an effective shepherd of young lives but it just didn’t seem to be working.  I had tried to get youth involved with many of “my great ideas” and all the “divinely inspired” ministry strategies that I was sure would work but there always seemed to be a lack of commitment and zeal on behalf of the youth. The teens had little or no ownership in the ministry and no desire to reach out to their peers.

One day as I was walking through a hallway in the church towards my office I heard someone playing the piano.  I didn’t recognize the song or the voice so I made my way up to the sanctuary to see if someone had gotten into the building that was not supposed to be there.  What I saw and heard has forever transformed my view of youth ministry.

At the piano sat Angel “Chico” Gonzalez.  He was singing a song he had written about the pain and despair he had experienced from his parents divorce and the comfort he found only in the love of Jesus.  Tears welled up in my eyes as I heard him sing and when he finished I asked him if he had ever thought about using his gift to share with others what he had experienced in his relationship with Christ. He told me that he had never thought about using his musical talents in Christian service because adult church leaders had always frowned upon the music he liked.

Needless to say, I encouraged him to keep singing and to pray about how God might want to use his talents and gifts in His kingdom.  Within a few days, several other youth got excited about music ministry, and they started practicing at church.  They soon formed a group called One Way, based on John 14:6.  They prayed, wrote music and rehearsed together faithfully for nearly six months and then, with the guidance of some adult youth workers and the blessing of the church leadership, began to sing in our church, other churches, at Christian youth rallies, evangelistic events, etc.

Our ministry began to look much different after the formation of One Way with the primary difference being that our ministry became a ministry done by youth as opposed to something done to youth.

The following are some time tested principles that our young people have taught us throughout the years that have helped them to become owners of the youth ministry in their church:

1. Be Quiet, Ask Questions and Listen. It might sound embarrassingly simple, but you’d be surprised how many adult youth workers never simply sit down, ask questions and really listen to young people.  A couple of summers ago a 19 year old heard me angrily criticizing the youth selling drugs on certain street corners near where he lived.  He asked me why I thought I had the right to criticize them to which I had no answer.  A few days later he took me out to the corner late one night while the dealing was heavy and I learned first hand why they were out there and what their impressions of the local church were.  Incidentally, nearly 70% of those I talked with had grown up in neigh-borhood Latino churches but left when they felt the church had become irrelevant to their lives and disinterested in their struggles.  When you look, listen and watch you’re able to allow youth to live out the gospel from their vantage point of giftedness as opposed to being tempted to force them into yours.

2. Share Visions, Dreams and Plans. Youth leaders love to dream about ministry and sometimes do a marginally good job at planning out their ministry goals and strategies.  However, when youth are not allowed in on these discussions, the result is they have no ownership in what happens because they have had no input.  Urban youth often perish because they have no vision.  Teach them how to dream, plan and pray by allowing them to do it with you.

3. Expose Youth to Other Ministries. Far too often, youth are limited in their scope of the kingdom of God because they know only what is happening in one city, in one denomination or in one church.  We have found that taking field trips to other ministries to learn from them and hear their dreams and visions has made an indelible impact on engaging youth on the issues of leadership development and ministry ownership.
4. Create Vacuums that Need to be Filled. Share with youth the opportunities for service in your own church and in their neighborhood, schools and families.  Don’t force them into specific roles but encourage them to pray and seek the Lord’s leading in regards to where he is calling them to serve.
5. Let Youth See You in Action. At the end of Elijah’s life we see painted in the Bible a beautiful portrait of a mentoring relationship in 2 Kings 2.  Elisha refuses to leave the side of his mentor and as a result watches Elijah in action right up to the time of his being taken up into heaven.  As Elijah parted the Jordan with a strike from his cloak when they were together so Elisha did the same upon his return from the other side of the Jordan when he was alone. He learned servant leadership by being exposed to it first hand.  We need to allow our youth the same opportunities to watch us in action both when we succeed and when we fail if we expect them to take ownership and leadership in our ministries.
6. Allow Youth to Feel Safe Enough to Make Mistakes. Allow and expect youth to make mistakes as they seek to share the gospel with their gifts and talents.  It is through mistakes and blunders that most of us youth leaders have learned our most valuable lessons.  A youth ministry that never allows youth to be in positions where they can safely fail will produce shallow disciples who will be leery of venturing outside of their comfort zones for the sake of the gospel as adults.
7. Hold Them Responsible. Too many youth ministries simply seek to entertain young people and thus not to hold them accountable to high standards of responsibility and conduct.  In a youth owned ministry model youth are motivated by their investment in ministry to want to be held accountable.  While the world is doing a devastatingly effective job of cornering the market on entertaining our youth it is doing nothing in the area of challenging them.  That is the real hunger of youth today and they respond at the chance to be challenged beyond the latest Play Station video game.  In addition, in our so called “postmodern world” of moral relativity, we’ve seen Christian young people genuinely wanting someone in their lives to hold them responsible for their actions.

8. Let Teens Model Spirituality. Far too often our churches and youth ministries subversively teach that spirituality is something that they can obtain when they graduate into adulthood.  Teens deserve the opportunity to model their spirituality and marginally committed teens will be challenged far more by seeing authentic Christianity lived out in front of them by their same age peers than by adults.
Joel Van Dyke
Director of Strategy of Transformation (GYMN partner)
Guatamela, Central America

Reflection and Action Items:

1. Think back on the story of Chico, have you ever felt like him? Are there youth in your ministry who may not be showing their talents because they fear disapproval like Chico?
2. Evaluate your youth group: is it more of an adult-led ministry or a youth-owned ministry? Can you remember events in your ministry that have been done by youth instead of done to youth?
3. Are there some things that make you hesitant to turn your ministry into a youth-owned ministry? What are they?
4. What are the advantages of having a youth ministry that is done by the youth?
5. How many of the principles stated in the article (Be Quiet and Listen, Share Visions and Plans, etc.) have you already been doing for your youth group?
6. Which of the following principles stated in the article is most needed by your youth group?
7. Write down specific goals (with where, when, who and how often) that you can accomplish as an individual and as a leadership team to make your ministry a youth-owned ministry.

60 dollar lesson

I took the kids to a restaurant this morning for breakfast. And, although I only had 7 of the kids with me the bill was still 60 bucks. Wow...I had decided that I wouldn't let that bother me, after all...if the toaster was in the kitchen somewhere I would have made eggs for them. But, alas...it was no where to be found. So you HAVE to go out for breakfast, right?

I pushed a couple of tables together and we buddied up and grabbed plates at this buffet style breakfast mega food place. I threw my receipt on the table as is customary. I also threw a couple of chocolate milk cartons that I'd grabbed off the buffet bar as we were walking back to our table. We all departed for the rows of goodies. My youngest daughter was with me and she eats like she's nicknamed (Bird) so we were the first ones to head back to the table. When we got there, another large party had decided that we set the tables just perfectly and decided to move in. As we approached my gaze was quickly on the table and our receipt. I mean, if you don't have that receipt you might as well be a shoplifter, right? So, I said some ingeniously clever remark to the waitress that was also there, "Did you just throw our receipt away?". The patriarch of the group was a fairly large in stature man with tattooed tear drops by his eye. With him was his wife, another couple similar in age to the tattooed man, several teenage kids and a young couple with a baby. Yeah, immediate tension. 

Here's where the lesson comes in - The bible says that a gentle word turns away wrath...I guess you can imagine what happens next. How I display all the things I've learned from scripture to try to calm the situation. Well, to imagine that would be exactly that, imaginative. It was nothing like that. I was kinda peeved and apparently it was on my shoulder and obvious. The young couple with the baby quickly interjected. "We're sorry sir, we can move". The tattooed man also through in fighting words like, "Oh, we're so sorry, we'll move.". 

So, scripture was proven again. Only, I was on the WRONG end of it. I tried to turn my bad attitude to graciousness by letting them stay and saying something like, "no really, not a problem, we'll just sit next to ya'll"...But, IT was out there. My super horrible, bad attitude strikes again. 

All through out the breakfast I was praying and wondering how I fix such a mess. I tried to purposely be more of a servant to the kids and get them things like juice and stuff. That wasn't enough. I kept looking over at their table and the Holy Spirit said, "say you're sorry." 

Wow, gulp. Ok, so the next ten minutes was spent in silence as I tried to figure out what I'd actually say. As I approached their table, I made eye contact with the tattooed man. He shot out of his seat with his hand extended toward mine and before I could say a word, apologized again. I mumbled some words about how I was sorry...but, it paled in comparison to this mans compassionate heart and spirit. Even as I thought I'd make myself look better with an apology in obedience to God's prompting, God chose to use even that to humble me...Thanks tattooed man.  Thanks God.

His will be done

I meet with a some fine Christian men once a week. We discuss things happening in our lives, prayer needs, and a plethora of other topics. As one of the guys was making his needs known, it struck me how prayer "seems" moot. We serve an amazing God whose plan is to prosper spiritually and perhaps even physically, those who believe and submit to Him. I know full well that my prosperous spiritual life could mean a destitute situation. And that seems understandable. But, I almost get to the point of "why even pray". I mean, His will will be done regardless. I can't change God.

Some will petition that Jesus taught about the woman who continually brought her case before a judge that would grant her petition just to get rid of her...consistency in prayer life. Long suffering.

Then I think of CS Lewis' quote - "prayer" ... "it doesn't change God, it changes me."

It puts Jesus parable into a different light for me. That I might develop a consistent, earnest, fervent, desperate longing to see God work in my life would change me. It might even make me dependent on Him, which might be exactly what He wants.

Can you imagine just praying and immediately having an answer? I don't think the proper name for someone that answers like that would be God but Genie. As I even teach about how God was training His people in discipline for 40 years as they were wandering in the wilderness, I overlooked how I behave exactly the same as them. I see things with my own shortsightedness and call it wisdom....my own timelines for when I think things should be resolved and call it patience...see my own obstacles and call them insurmountable.

I am reminded of an episode of Happy Days when they got everyone to chant an incantation and the faster they said it the more it revealed the truth. It went something like this:

Owa.... tafoo..... liam.... Say it over and over, and a little faster each time...Truth.