In the Meantime

A Call to Prayer

This is a call to prayer concerning America's response to Syria. If you are already on this page and have no time read all of these reflections, read no further and spend your time in prayer.

We are on the verge of something and we do not know exactly what. No one knows. No one can. We have finally crossed partisan isles and divided ourselves in several different groupings where normal adversaries become unlikely allies.

I do not know enough to take any side because "sides" are arbitrary. I have a bias for peace, caution, and diplomacy. Never mind my biases or opinions. When we pray, we are of one mind - seeking God. I align myself with people who seek the peace of God wherever they come from and whatever their persuasions.

These are critical times and we have people in place to make hard decisions and Christians have an obligation and opportunity to pray for them. I am doing so. These decisions are extremely important to say it tritely.

People will die or live.

There will be repercussions we cannot predict or control, obligations that we could not anticipate. Believers in Jesus and all other people, pray for peace, and pray for wisdom. Stop talking for a moment and be silent before God.

We have prayed for these nations at war within themselves, but this prayer is for our response. Let us empty ourselves of preconceived notions and political biases for one moment of prayer - Just prayer - not advice.

I pray that God will advise our leaders through wisdom, conscience, sound counsel, and the inner voice of truth. You may question the biases, motives, and perspectives of our leaders. It matters not; prayer can work.

God has often swayed and persuaded people in power when His people prayed.

If we seek God's influence on the hearts, minds, and hands of people in power, we have not crossed any lines of imposing our beliefs upon them. We have gone through a Third Party who is the First Party. Those who do not believe He exists or acts can ignore our efforts before God because they are of no affect in their view.

However, if we do believe, we come open-minded, not knowing the will of God, but seeking it and believing that when we pray, "Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done," that something actually happens that we did not manipulate or manufacture.

It is our humility, repentance, and seeking of His face that is called for ... OURS .... not unbelievers ... OURS ... all who consider ourselves His people. WE must humble OURSELVES and pray and turn from OUR wicked ways, seeking His face and praying ("If MY people ..." II Chron. 7:14).

Times of crisis remind us of what we ought to be doing daily, praying for our presidents, representatives, senators, governors, mayors, council members, county administrators, police officers, generals, lieutenants, sergeants, principals, teachers, and on and on.

What if, before we ever spoke or wrote a word of criticism or advice or opinion, we prayed for four things?

1. The decision maker to be wise and true and blessed and to do what is right even if it is not what we think is right.

2. Ourselves to have an open mind and heart before God and to understand issues more deeply and have our opinions formed and reformed by God and truth.

3. Ourselves to have graceful words with which to express ourselves truthfully and as forcefully and persuasively as necessary in love.

Today, would you pray specifically for the choices being made to lead to the shalom of God through His Kingdom and for our nation to do the right thing as part of His overall plan for the earth. God loves all nations and peoples. We are not His favorites. He has love and plans for all.

Pray for God's peace and justice on earth from the White House to Syria and everything and everywhere in between. God grant that Your will be done today. May it be so in Jesus' Name and God grant shalom.

Be blessed by this call to prayer:

 

 

Let us pray!

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What If?

Facebook is a mission field for me. I build relationships, bridges, and credibility so that I can share my  faith is an authentic and transparent way and demonstrate how an ordinary guy with the same problems as anyone else, and lots of the same flaws, can follow Jesus and apply His Word to daily life and even mundane matters.

We just had an election and it is now over. But the real work in the real Kingdom continues. I posted something on Facebook the other day that got a lot of response. It is a call for believers to make certain commitments that are not dependent upon the outcomes of any elections and need no one’s support but God’s. It all centers on a few words from the prayer our Lord taught us to pray. It follows:

"Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven."

Come tomorrow ...

Come tomorrow, what if Christians in our nation would make some resolutions like those I humbly and tentatively suggest below?

I can only speak to and for Christians on this matter. People of other faiths and ideologies often have similar ethics, but I am a follower of Jesus and these resolutions flow from my understanding of His directives to His followers.

We shall love, respect, and pray for our leaders whoever they are. We shall obey our laws.

If there is a law that we, in good conscience cannot obey (not just that we don't like it), we shall peacefully and respectfully resist and accept the consequences quietly and humbly.

We shall continue to love our neighbors and let our voices be heard for peace, justice, and a righteous, compassionate society beginning at the local level.

We shall work across the lines of ideology to support common causes and be willing to be distinct and different without disrespecting those with whom we differ.

We shall assume sincere motives in hearts of our opponents as a basis for reasoning with them and cooperating with them whenever possible.

We shall practice our freedom of speech, religion, and every other freedom with the assumption that those freedoms are protected, without fear, and without intimidation. We shall not expect the endorsement of civil authorities or special protections or considerations beyond that which is common to all -- even those who have other beliefs and practices.

If our freedoms of speech and religion are indeed threatened, we shall continue to exercise them no matter what the consequences.

We shall care for and advocate for those who have no voice, for the oppressed, the poor, the broken, and the outcasts.

We shall work for peace on earth and understanding among nations. We know that there shall continue to be wars and rumors of wars in the continuation of human history, but we shall do what we have been commanded to do and work for peace in our time.

We shall be friendly and winsome.

We shall guard our own personal morality and be honest in business, politics, and human relations. We shall seek to set an example of sexual purity, integrity, and fidelity. We shall conduct ourselves in our families and churches in such a way as not to discredit the Kingdom of God.

We will guard our words, temper our speech, practice the Sermon on the Mount, love God, love our neighbor, and pray for people in power as a witness to the words we speak.

We shall continue to confess Jesus as our Lord and Savior and the guide of our lives.

We shall believe in God and in the words of Jesus that He would be with us always as we follow Him and call others to follow and ...

We shall follow, making disciples as we go, teaching them to do what He taught us to do remembering that the essence of what He taught us to do was to love.

We shall continue to pray, "Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven," believing that if the King has invited us to pray that way, He has a plan to answer our prayer.

That is where I stopped. I would add that these resolutions enable us to bear a consistent and authentic witness to Jesus Christ, to speak to issues that matter, and keep our focus on discipleship. Our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.”

The world needs Jesus. We have Jesus. Let's share Jesus!

Partnership

I like to watch a television show called, "The Shark Tank" sometimes.  A panel of multi-millionaire investors sits to hear entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas and ask for specific dollar amount investments to fund their dreams. In return, they offer various percentages of ownership in their companies.

Then, the negotiations begin.

Sometimes the "sharks" opt out entirely believing that they either will not get an adequate return on their investment or that they have no expertise or interest to bring to the table. Sometimes they make counter offers. Usually they do. Sometimes they outbid each others. Sometimes they form coalitions amongst themselves to offer competitive bids.

When an offer is made, it is up to the entrepreneur to accept or reject the offer from the potential partners.

Usually, part of the bottom line is something more than how much the "shark" is willing to invest and for how much interest in the company. It is the underlying question, "Do I want to be in partnership with this investor?"

It is a good question for churches and associations. We are in partnership together on a common mission. There is give and take and give and give and give. Money is only a small part of the investment. When we enter an associational partnership, we are giving of ourselves, our energies, and our reputations to associate together on a mission that is larger than our own special interests. We are partnering together on God's mission in the world.

In Philippians 1:5, Paul expressed joy in his prayers for the Philippian believers "because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now."

In Philemon 1:6, he prayed, "... that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ."

In verse 24, he referred to "Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke, my fellow workers."

Then in I Corinthians, we get the big picture that, "... we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building."

We indeed have a partnership with each other, but our real partnership is the one we share together with God. The mission and the work is His and He believes there is enough of a potential return on His investment in us to invest everything to save us call us into His service.

How can we do less than invest our all in Him and invest ourselves in each other?

Church Planting Movements

At our October 13 annual meeting of the Mid Valley Southern Baptist Association, we will have 4-5 break-out groups on a variety of topics. One of those topics will be "Church Planting Movements." The specific focus will be on how God is expanding His work around the world through the rapid mutiplication of churches. One of the tools for this multiplication is a simple process call "T4T" or "Training for Trainers," developed by Ying Kai in China.

1. T4T Introduction from T4T Online on Vimeo.

 

The process is so basic and duplicatable that anyone can use it ... and that is the point. Through a simple bible study, people are brought to Christ, discipled, and equipped to plant new churches in a very short time.

Some time back, Rick Warren interviewed Ying Kai:

This is very exciting material and we are testing it with a new church plant right now in Fresno/Clovis. I look forward to sharing more about this movement of God as time goes on.

 Thirteen video TRAINING HERE

 More information HERE