what difference do it make?

Well this post is a first of sorts - not the first post of the new year, but it is the first time I have "reviewed" a book for this blog. Thomas Nelson Publishers graciously sent me a copy of Ron Hall, Denver Moore, and Lynn Vincent's new book What Difference Do It Make? which is the follow-up the their first wildly successful book, The Same Kind of Different As Me.

Lingering behind every "sequel" is the question of whether or not it will be as good as the original. There is no question that What Difference is as good as the first. What Difference Do It Make is a kind of "where are they now" book that not only continues where Same Kind left off, but also shares the fruit of how people from around the nation have responded to Same Kind by telling their stories of answering a call to make a difference in their contexts.

In this world where tragedy makes top news and seemingly sucks the life out of the air around us, What Difference gives us room to breathe more easily. I personally enjoy reading true-life inspiring tales and what is great about this book is that the story is not over - it continues - and will continue for many years to come.

I have included an excerpt from the book below (graciously provided by TNP). After you read this book, give it to a friend, coworker or family member who you think it could inspire to make a difference.

Introduction

Hello again.

If you’re reading this book, it might be because you already have read Same Kind of Different as Me, a true story about my wife, Deborah, and the man who changed our lives, Denver Moore. If you haven’t, don’t worry—we’ve included enough of the story to catch you up. (The “catch up” sections from Same Kind of Different as Me are in italics.)

Since June 2006, when Same Kind of Different as Me snuck first onto bookstore shelves, then onto the New York Times bestsellers list, Denver and I have traveled thousands of miles back and forth across America. We’ve spoken at hundreds of venues, from local book clubs filled with sweet little old ladies to the Bethesda, Maryland, symphony hall. (We were in Bethesda as guests of Doro Bush Kock and her mother, former first lady Barbara Bush, who quite possibly is Denver’s biggest fan.) Throughout that time, we have seen thousands of lives changed—homeless shelters started and millions of dollars raised for the homeless, yes, but also astonishing changes in the lives of everyday Americans that we never could’ve imagined or predicted.

That’s why we wrote this book, to tell you just a few of the stories of hope and redemption that God continues to write in the lives of so many—and in our own.

One day in the spring of 2009, as we were writing, I was in the kitchen at the Murchison estate, where Denver and I live, on a conference call with executives at Thomas Nelson, our publisher. During the call, Denver walked in.

“Hey, Denver,” I said, putting the call on speaker. “We’re talking about titles for the new book. Got any ideas?”

“Title for the new book?” he said, screwing his eyelids down into his famous hard squint. “What difference do it make?”

“What Difference Do It Make?” I said. “That’s it!”

Denver shrugged and walked off, shaking his head.

It was the perfect title. Since Same Kind came out, over and over, like the needle stuck in the groove of an old vinyl record, we’ve repeated a single message: one person can make a difference. My wife, Deborah Hall, is proof of that.

As many of you know, God took Deborah in 2001. Cancer. But if she were here today, she would tell you she was nobody special. If you had come to our house, she would have made you fresh coffee or tea and invited you to sit down at the kitchen table and tell her about yourself. And you would have felt loved. Because that was Deborah’s gift. She loved God and, because of her intimate walk with Him, loved people. Her whole life was about forgiveness and unconditional love, two qualities that most of us find difficult to master on a regular basis.

It really was that simple. Deborah’s life showed that kind of love is attainable for anyone willing to put in the time on their knees, then overcome their fear and go out and get their hands a little dirty. And I have talked to literally hundreds of people who told me that Deborah’s story inspired them to do just that. Through the difference her life made, others are now making a difference, and that’s in part what this book is about. It’s packed full with stories folks have shared with us about how Deborah’s example inspired them to do more, both in their own homes and in their communities.

A lady named Ann, for example, wrote to us from Vivian, a small Louisiana town just north of Shreveport—not too far from Red River Parish, where Denver worked the plantations. Ann wrote of how she loaned Same Kind of Different as Me to about twenty different friends. Every friend who brings it back has a very different story about how the story affected him or her.

“One person notices the friendship Denver and Ron share,” Ann wrote. “Another feels shame over the way her grandparents treated the ‘Denvers’ in their lives.”

One woman surprised Ann by telling her that the portion of the book that dealt with Deborah’s cancer battle stirred her to go and have a colonoscopy she’d been putting off!

Like Ann, we’ve been struck by the amazing variety of stories people tell us about how Debbie’s story affected them. Here we thought we were writing a book about one woman’s determination to make a difference for the homeless, and we started getting letters about marriages restored, friendships renewed, ministries begun, even babies adopted!

In Fort Worth, a high school teacher named Carin told us that, “unbelievably,” she’d been able to get the school administration to approve our book to be read by her entire mental-health class. “The students have learned how so many issues affect our mental health,” Carin wrote. “I have also used the book to help relay to them the importance of community involvement, passion, and what it means to be a servant to others.”

Shortly after Deborah died, her best friend, Mary Ellen, told me that God had whispered to her during prayer that Deborah was like the kernel of wheat Jesus refers to in the gospel of John: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”

Mary Ellen told me she thought that maybe Deborah’s death would be like that—fruitful. I cannot even express how much I absolutely did not want to hear that at the time. But it appears that Mary Ellen was right, more right than even she knew.

She told me about the wheat kernel just a couple of days before the dedication of the Deborah L. Hall Memorial Chapel, the new worship facility built at the Union Gospel Mission in my wife’s honor and funded by donations that poured in after local folks heard Denver’s story at her memorial service. At the time, we thought the chapel, along with the new care facilities for the homeless, were the fruit God would bring from my wife’s death. I had no idea that the Union Gospel Mission was just the first fruit in what would become a cornucopia of blessing.

Take Detra, for example. Detra, who lives in Austin, Texas, wrote to tell us that after reading Deborah’s story, she decided to start carrying food and socks and blankets in her car so that she can bless the homeless. Also, her church had a picnic in an Austin park and had so much food that they began feeding hungry people who were in the park that day.

One little girl asked Detra, “When are you coming back?”

After that, the church made the picnic a monthly event where church members sit down and break bread with the homeless.

Would I take back blessings like that one and those you are about to read about in this book? If I could rewind time like a video and create a cancer story with a happy ending, would I?

I’m sorry to say there’s a big part of me that says, “Yes! I want my wife back!”

But I can tell you without reservation that Deborah would say, “No, Ron. I’ll see you soon.”

And so the story goes on—men and women all over the country inspired by the story of Denver and Deborah to make a difference in other people’s lives. Over the past three years, I thought I was making a difference too—traveling and speaking all over the country, “carrying Miss Debbie’s torch,” as Denver calls it. And I suppose I was.

But in 2009, I learned that sometimes the most difficult difference to make is the one that’s closest to home.

– Ron Hall
Dallas, Texas
July 2009

shane claiborne @ wts

Yesterday was a wonderful day! I had the privilege to listen and engage in broad conversation with Shane Claiborne around three talking points - Resurrecting Church, Another Way of Life, and the Scandal of Grace. Shane is an author of several books including: Irrresitible Revolutionand Jesus for President; he is involved in a "movement" called The Simply Way whose motto is Dream big. Live small. Shane has also spent time with Mother Teresa working with orphans and the disenfranchised of Calcutta.

Observations about Shane
Right from his opening joke, what struck me the most about Shane was his joy. At the end of the day, I found myself praying in the car on my way home that God would grant me a portion of Shane's joy. While he had every opportunity to point out all the church's faults and criticize her for all her wrong-doings throughout history - he didn't. Rather he joyfully and tearfully shared stories of where God showed up in people's lives. I respect that. I want that. I want that kind of joy for others.

I found Shane's warmth, candidness, and approach very inviting and I think his demeanor allowed the audience to ask him some difficult [but very good] questions with mutual respect and candidness.

Observations Regarding Making Disciples
Here are some of Shane's observations about making disciples in our contexts today:
1. Move in to the abandoned places - move toward suffering and enter into it, not away from it.
2. Shared economics - practice giving a relational tithe to those whom we know personally. This can be as simple as forming a babysitting co-op to save on babysitting fees or as complex as forming a health care co-op to help pay medical bills for under- or uninsured friends.
3. Practice hospitality and open our homes to those who are hungry or in need.
4. Seek racial reconciliation.
5. Have conversations around sexuality - celebrate singleness and leave room for the celebate. Quoting Shane quoting a monk said, "We can live without sex, but we can't live without love." Well said.
6. Become stewards of God's creation by caring for the earth and exploring alternative options and create teaching opportunities in our neighborhoods to teach stewardship.
7. Seek peace always.
8. Live in rhythm of prayer and Sabbath-rest.

Another Way of Doing Life
In this session, Shane talked at length about a Theology of Enough. He began his talk with a quote from Ghandi who said that there are enough resources in this world to meed everyone's need, but not enough resources to meet everyone's greed. Point well taken. A theology of enough, for Claiborne, is centered in rebirth. Spiritual rebirth, as symbolized and demonstrated in the first part of the Book of Acts, shows that the early Christian church shared all things in common and no one was in need of anything. Rebirth leads to redistribution of goods, services, and wealth. Shane recognizes that this sounds a lot like Communism. To his critics he says, "Loving neighbors [as taught in the Christian Scriptures] makes capitalism obsolete and Marxism unnecessary."

A theology of enough means that we hold on to our possession lightly. Practice the principle of non-attachment which says: I will purchase or receive nothing that I cannot give away. A theology of enough says that the best thing we can do is to give away our best things.

Quotable Quotes
Here are some quotes from Shane's talks that I don't have any other place for:

"Being a Christian is not about better vision, but about having new eyes to see."

"God loves us back to life - we have a God who is greater than our worst sin."

"The closer to God we are, the less we want to throw stones."

"It is grace that dulls the executioner's sword."

"If we lose a generation, it's not because we didn't entertain them, it's because we didn't dare them to follow Jesus."

blogging break

I've been pretty slammed over the last month with church work, school, and other obligations. I'll be up and running in a week or two. Check back soon.

where is God when it hurts - part four

A Critique of Culture
Yancey rightly questions our culture's false perceptions regarding pain, "Not only is pain useful as a warning - it may also be an essential element in our richest experiences....We are told that pain is the antithesis of pleasure....Our distorted viewpoint helps foster the myth that pain and pleasure are diametrically opposed: our life styles murmur it to us every day" (41-2).

This is a tough pill to swallow, yet we must contend with the apparent opposing worldviews. Though not always obvious, our culture and the societies in which we live - both rightly and wrongly - tell us that pain is "bad" - "Have a sore back? Take some Aleve." Americans, including myself, tend to conceptualize pain as something that must be mastered with technology (42). Our culture tends to remove us from the natural cycle of pain and death in the animal world - we experience these things vicariously through alternative media outlets like television, movies, magazines, the internet, and books. This kind of vicarious living produces numbness. We can become numb to the natural rhythms of creation. Yancey says, "It is too easy for us to perceive the sensations of life as something which must be done to us. We don't see pleasure as something we reach out for and actively attain after struggle. If it involves pain, we abandon the search" (43).

"On a higher level," Yancey continues, "most worthwhile human accomplishments involve a long history of struggle...The pleasure after the pain absorbs it...Jesus used childbirth as an analogy: nine months of waiting, intense labor, then absolute ecstasy (John 16:21)" (47).

Yancey closes this section with this thought, "Pain cannot be extracted from life's experiences and roundly condemned. A knee-jerk reaction against God for allowing pain is futile [see Job]...and often it is a necessary step to pleasure and fulfillment" (49).

I like that - "Pain is a necessary step to pleasure and fulfillment." Anything worth doing or anything worth being or attaining will ultimately cost you something of tremendous value. It requires investment and sacrifice [among other things]. Childbirth is just one example. Another example are athletes who are dedicated to their sports and put the time, energy, and training in order to compete at a high level.

I don't think that we need to necessarily "embrace" or "encourage" pain - but we do need to recognize that without pain we don't really know what pleasure is. Pain - though uncomfortable for us to experience - is necessary to living a fulfilled life.

More to come...

where is God when it hurts - part three

Pain - the "gift" that some don't have

In 2 Kings 5, we encounter a charasmatic hero from Aram named Naaman. Naaman was a commander in the army of the king of Aram. Yet despite his military prowess - Naaman was a leper. The word "leprosy" probably conjures up all kinds of mental pictures ranging from snow-white skin peeling to limbs falling off. Nevertheless, movies largely have shaped the way we view leprosy, or Hansen's disease, mostly in unhelpful or unrealistic ways.

Hansen's Disease

Largely what we see of those who suffer from this cruel disease is the effect of something much deeper and more sinister. Hansen's disease (HD) is an anestheic which numbs the pain cells of the hands, feet, nose, ears, and eyes. While most diseases are feared because of their pain, this disease is disastrous because of the lack of pain associated with it. Current research has shown that in 99% of cases, HD only numbs the extremities. So how does decay happen? Well, if the nerve cells are destroyed in HD patients, then actions such as removing a hot pan from the oven with a bare hand would not cause pain - but a burn or hand blister would still be evidenced. Yancey tells a story of a time when a HD doctor tried to open a rusty storeroom lock, but it would not give. A patient, who he describes as undersized, malnourshed 10-year old, approached and offered to unlock the padlock. the boy took the key and with a quick jerk he turned the key in the lock. The doctor was amazed. But upon closer inspection, the doctor discovered that the difficult act of turning the key gashed one of the boy's fingers open - exposing his bone below. Despite the depth of the wound, the boy experienced no pain.

"These people can undergo surgery without anesthesia, and they can impress their friends with painless feats...but their lives are marked with danger" (38). Those who suffer from HD "should make all of us discard the common notion that pain is an unpleasantness to be avoided at all costs...More than anything, it [pain] frees us to enjoy normalcy on this planet" (39). Without pain, Yancey continues, "we would lead unbalanced, paranoid lives, encountering unknown dangers, never confident that we weren't destroying ourselves" (39).

A Thought

Though the Bible describes Naaman as a leper - that was a fairly common word used to describe anyone who had any kind of skin disease. Maybe Naaman had what we call Hansen's Disease today or perhaps he had a really bad rash - we don't know. Had Naaman been an Israelite, he would have been relegated to the outskirts [or margins] of society where contact with "the diseased" was forbidden. What a way to go through life - to never be allowed to experience relationship with other human beigns except perhaps with others who have a skin disease as well. We were all created to experience relationship in this life and to experience it to the fullest. Can you imagine life without being able to feel the grass between your toes or feel the soft touch of a loved one's hand?

More to come....

quotable quote

The cycle of codependency must stop, and it begins with the leader refusing to enable the irresponsible behavior of others. Christian leaders must step off the pedestal and no longer allow the average Christian to do nothing. As long as the leaders continue to fulfill all roles of responsibility, the others will not be able to do what God has called them to do" (40).

Neil Cole, Organic Leadership

where is God when it hurts - part two

I have found Where is God When It Hurts to be a very insightful and personal book concerning the issues of pain and suffering in today's world. Yancey uses a ton of real-life experiences to communicate people's different responses to pain and he incorporates what the Bible has to say about pain and suffering. At the outset, Yancey confesses that he does not address this issue philosophically as many have done in the past - rather he tries to keep pain very personal. He acknowledges that the large questions such as - "how did evil enter the world?" and "why is suffering dispensed inequitably?" are not addressed in this book.

Yancey begins his treatment of pain by looking at pain physiologically - that is, how and why does the human person experience pain from a physiologic perspective. In other words, medically speaking - what's going on inside of us? And what does our body's response say about pain?

Pain - "The Gift that Nobody Wants"
The human body is complex - so complex that the nervous system [which produces pain] cannot be replicated in laboratories - though this has been tried. Physiologically speaking - pain is the body's warning system. It also serves as a protection system. But as we all know and have experienced - pain is well...painful. We don't like to feel pain because it hurts and causes us discomfort. So why do our bodies need pain? Does pain have to be unpleasant? Here's what Yancey wonders, "A protective system is, of course, necessary, but must it hurt? What about when a piercing shot of pain races to the brain, doubling up a patient - couldn't God have found another way of alerting us?" (28).

Extensive laboratory research led by Dr. Paul Brand using audible signals coming through hearing aids and visual lights has shown that patients would tolerate loud noises if s/he wanted to do something such as turning a screwdriver too hard, even though the warning signals told them it would be harmful. Finally Brand resorted to electric shock - people had to be forced to remove their hands - being alerted to danger was insufficient (28). The stimulus for these patients had to be unpleasant.

Here's what Dr. Brand sincerely says, "Thank God for pain!"

Yancey continues, "Unless the warning signal demands response, we might not heed it...for the majority of us, the pain network performs daily protective service...pain then is not God's great goof. It is a gift - the gift that nobody wants. Without it, our lives would be open to abuse and horrible decay" (29).

I would add that pain is the gift that we all have received - well, most of us - as we shall see very soon - not all of us are born with a properly functioning nervous system which warns and protects us. Pain demands attention, says Yancey, and it reminds me that the next time I turn my ankle or wake up with stiff neck that I need to be cautious so as to not wipe out the pain with ibuprofen or other pain relieving pills - just because I'm uncomfortable - because in doing so I might make my injury worse by ignoring the pain.

Stay tuned...

living will & advanced directives

Friends, I generally don't write so directly - mostly because I write for myself - but in this case I'm writing to you who read this blog frequently and in-frequently because this topic is something that is important and equally urgent. I'll get right to the point - if you don't have a living will or have not taken the time to communicate in some way, shape, or form your desires for your future medical care in the event you are unable to make your own decisions - you need to get a living will and make advanced directives for health care today. That's how important this is. If you are married [and have children] you needed to get a living will yesterday. My wife and I are in our early 30's and have living wills in the event either or both of us are tragically killed. It makes no difference if you are 30, 60, or 92 - you need to get a living will and you need to [at the very least] communicate with a loved one what to do in the unfortunate event you are incapacitated in such a way that you require sustained life support or the like. I hope I'm not coming on too strongly here. So where is all this emotion coming from?

I have had the privilege to serve as a chaplain at a local hospital over the last year. Yesterday was a difficult day for me at the hospital as I met with a family and their physicians to determine the future care of their loved one who could not speak for himself nor did he have a living will or advanced directives. When a patient has not expressed his/her desires, the difficult desicions concerning their care rests upon next of kin [or whoever has the power of attorney]. The family needed spiritual guidance on this issue because they wanted to make the best decision for their loved one. These decisions are the most difficult decisions surviving loved ones have to make, so please do yourself and your loved ones a great service and get a living will and make your desires for medical attention known to someone - your spouse, a family member, a confidant, someone you trust with your life.

Bottom line: If you don't have a living will - get one. It's worth the cost [not only to you financially but to those around you who won't have to make the difficult decisions].

Second bottom line: By getting a living will and advanced directives, you will relieve the burden of guilt that your loved ones will feel if they have to make the decisions in your place.

Peace.

where is God when it hurts - part one

I've read the opening chapters of Philip Yancey's classic book on hurt and suffering from a Christian perspective entitled, Where is God When it Hurts, and I'd like to open this post with a quote which struck me as dead on. Read what Yancey says in the opening chapter...

After an extensive tour of the United States, the well-known German pastor and theologian Helmut Thielicke was asked what he saw as the greatest defect among American Christians. He replied, "They have an inadequate view of suffering." I have come to agree with him.

There you have it - one widely respected opinion on the greatest "defect" among American Christians today. Actually this book was first published in 1977 and I believe Thielicke is spot on concerning this issue. In my opinion, our [Christian]view of human suffering in the Western world is too small and inadequate.

And so it is Yancey's hope - which began as a quest - that Christians have something to offer those who are suffering. And, offer a message which can strenghten our own faith if we suffer. "Where is God when it hurts? Is He trying to tell us something?" (15).

More to come...

Surprised by the Power of the Spirit

I just finished reading Surprised by the Power of the Spirit written by pastor and scholar, Jack Deere [not to be confused with John Deere - the farm implement mogul]. You can read a short biography here.

I must say I was pleasantly "surprised" with the content of this book. I am usually skeptical of book titles which include words like - power and Spirit - but I really appreciated Deere's authenticity as he writes not only from a Bible professor's perspective but also from a testimonial perspective. Testimonially, he shared about how for decades he not only read but taught others [from the Bible no less] that spiritual gifts such as healing, prophecy, tongues, and the like ceased to exist when the last of the apostles died on earth. He had what is called a "cessationist" view of the world. But all that radically change for Deere on an occasion where he saw first hand the awesome power of God's Spirit heal someone he actually knew! Following that event, he dove deeply in to the biblical text and began to question all that he previously believed about healing and the spiritual gifts, and he realized that God did not withdraw his gifts; rather the church has withdrawn from God! He has gone on to plant several churches and continues to be a man who prays for the sick and encourages his parishioners to seek the spiritual gifts which God freely gives to those who pursue them for the the edification and the building up of His church.

Deere's book has a good deal of technical content as well whereby he looks at the biblical texts dealing with spiritual power and gifts and he talks about how they are relevant and useful to the church today. He also midly deals with the aspects of why God does or does not heal today - which is always a source of debate!

If I had the opportunity to meet Jack Deere, I would ask him to talk more about world view - specifically to talk about how the different lenses in which we view the world around us affect how we read the Bible. Though he doesn't say in his book that his "world view" changed - it is apparent that this is the case. Overall, I found this book to be very helpful as an introductory text in the realm of spiritual power, gifts, and healing.

summer reading 2009

This summer I am reading a few books that have been on my shelf for a while, so I figured what better time than this summer to catch up on some long-waited reading. Here's what's on my list this summer -

The Coming of the Kingdom by Herman Ridderbos.

Where is God When it Hurts by Philip Yancey.

The Challenge of Jesus by N.T. Wright.

Surprised by the Power of the Spirit by Jack Deere.

I've already read Deere's book on the power of the Holy Spirit and will briefly blog about what I appreciate about his book. He has a lot to say and his personal experience is testimony to the great work of the Holy Spirit today. More to come on that soon.

faith

Faith is certitude in the midst of doubt rather than certainty with no doubts. Faith is a journey with a compass which points us in the right direction, not a detailed map which tells us every step to take. Faith is going because you have heard the good news that the Guide is trustworthy and that the trip is worth the cost.

~Will Willimon, The Gospel for the Person who has Everything

quotable quotes

"He took dust from the earth and made the man; He formed him. The devil came, and perverted him. Then the Lord came, took him again, and remolded, and recast him in baptism, and He suffered not his body to be of clay, but made it of a harder ware. He subjected the soft clay to the fire of the Holy Spirit...He was baptized with water that he might be remodelled, with fire that he might be hardened" ~John Chrysostom, Eutropius

spring break 2009 part 2

It was our last full day in Gulf Shores and we spent the day at the beach. I thought it might be kind of fun to try and dig up a sand crab. I've never done such a thing before and I confess I had no idea how much of a challenge this would prove to be. I found a 2" wide sand crab hole and began to follow the hole down by digging around and under the hole to prevent it from caving in. After digging about two feet down below shore level and two feet in length, I noticed that the hole was disappearing, not from caving in on itself but because a crab was on the run digging deeper in the sand. I was on to him so I cut him off by digging ahead of him trying to cut him off. When the two tunnels I dug merged in the center - there was no crab to be found. I thought for sure I had him, and after poking around a litte bit more I found him! His shell blends perfectly with the sand he was difficult to see because he was perfectly still but when I unsuspectingly sraped him with my shovel, he got scared and started to make a run for it! I was able to use two shovels to lift him out of the tunnels to show the kiddos. End to end this guy was 8 -10" wide. It was the first time I - as well as Naomi and Elijah - had ever seen a sand crab up close. The kids loved it and after we snapped some pics, we gently returned him to his home. It was a great way to end our trip.

intercessory prayer

Following the pattern set in James 5, it seems very natural to follow confessional prayer with a time of intercessory prayer—with one caveat. After a time of confession, it is vitally important to pray to be filled and receive the Holy Spirit by faith. Jesus said to his disciples, “When an unclean spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in a live there.” (Matt. 12:43-5). What Jesus says there is that when the kingdom of God has come upon you, your spiritual house is “swept clean and put in order.” But, Jesus points out, if your spiritual house is clean but unoccupied by his Holy Spirit, you will end up far worse than when the cleaning process begun. So, it is appropriate that following your time of confession [when your spiritual house is swept clean and put in order] that you pray for the filling and receiving of the Holy Spirit, so that you are equipped to intercede on others behalf.

One definition of the word “intercede” is to act on behalf of another person. While that is a good starting place, Methodist preacher, Walter Wink once wrote, “When we pray we are not sending a letter to a celestial White House, where it is sorted among piles of others. We are engaged, rather, in an act of co-creation...History belongs to the intercessors, who believe the future into being.” So there is this sense that intercessory prayer is more than speaking to God on someone’s behalf. It’s an act of co-creation with the Holy Spirit , who intercedes on our behalf [see Romans 8:26]. It’s beautiful to me to think that when we pray we are co-creators with God in changing history.

Though God unfolds his plan throughout history according to his will, people aggressively prayed about it. Paul instructed the early church to devote themselves to prayer and to pray unceasingly (cf. Col. 4:2; 1 Thess. 5:17). Despite the difficulty surrounding trying to comprehend how prayer works with the constancy of God, God enjoys changing his plans because of prayers. Walter Wink suggests that Christians are co-creators with God and history changes as a result of effective prayer. In another example from Scripture, Paul admonishes Timothy to pray and intercede on behalf of everyone—including kings and all those in authoritative positions so that all “may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. (1 Tim. 2:2).

I’d like to close with a prayer Jesus prayed for his disciples. He prayed, “Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one.” Friends, may Jesus’ prayer be our unified prayer as we tap into the awesome power of prayer and continue to make history together. Amen.

confessional prayer

Imagine the prophet Isaiah standing in awe and wonder at the sight of the Lord seated on a throne whose robe train filled the temple. Imagine seraphs [angels ablaze for God] each with six wings—two covering their faces, two coving their feet, and with two they were flying. All the while, the seraphs were calling aloud, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” And the Bible says at the sound of their voices the whole temple was filled with smoke and the doorposts and thresholds shook.

So, here stands Isaiah in the midst of an amazing and awe-inspiring vision of the glory of the LORD filling the temple while blazing seraphs call aloud, “kadosh, kadosh, kadosh is the LORD Almighty…” And what was his response? Isaiah cried, “Woe to me! I am ruined. For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.” (6:5).

When Isaiah is drawn into the heavenly realm and into the presence of the Wholly Other—the Transcendent One, his response is mind blowing —”Woe to me,” said Isaiah, “I am ruined!” Isaiah is completely overcome by the sense of God’s holiness—God’s wholly otherness, and he recognized that in God’s presence he was unworthy, unclean and “utterly ruined.” And so it is with us...we are utterly ruined in the presence of the Almighty. But the story is not over. What happens next is vital to our understanding of the Transcendent One. Isaiah says, “Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, ’See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for’.” In an amazing act of grace, God forgives Isaiah for his uncleanness and restores their relationship so much so that God enables Isaiah to receive his word and live (Reinstra).

So, let us be aware of who we are in relation to the Holy One who sits on a high and exalted throne and together confess, “Woe to us! We are an unclean people! We are ruined!” Then be ready to receive forgiveness and be restored into right relationship with the One who then says, “Whom shall I send?” And we can respond with confidence, “Here we are! Send us!” Amen.

prayer

Six months ago or so, our family was driving back from visiting my family in NE Iowa when we encountered traffic at a stand-still on I-80 at the Iowa/Illinois border. Now, I consider myself a patient man, but when you have two kids in tow with no food, no water, and no bathroom, things can get ugly. After 40 minutes of inching forward on the concrete corridor and much debate, we hesitantly decided to take the first exit off the interstate in an attempt to bypass the construction and re-join the interstate further to east. So we exited I-80 and headed south on Highway 84—one of those winding river roads adjacent to the Mighty Mississippi. Only there was one little problem with our little detour adventure—we didn’t have GPS and we didn’t have a map. We were headed south but we knew we had to get east. But we didn’t know how to get there. It wouldn’t be long before we would be lost. Thinking to myself we had made a terrible mistake, I prayed silently, “Lord, we’re lost…please Lord help us.”

So, maybe you’ve “been there” too—lost on a county road unsure of where to go next. But thankfully [if we push our pride aside] we can pause in the midst of our wandering and ask for directions. And that’s just what we did, and we made it back to the interstate.

Prayer is like asking for directions when we’re lost, and it’s important to remember first where we are in relation to our Heavenly Father—in short, we’re lost. We’re separated from our Source by sin and confessing where we are [or where we have been] is the place to start to getting back on the highway of life. And after we confess, it seems appropriate to begin asking God for direction. Sometimes we call this prayers of intercession where we ask for God’s leading, direction, healing, sanctification, provision, power, and for God’s good gifts. The Book of James says, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed” (5:16). Confession followed by intercession. So the intent of the next couple posts is to give you, the reader, insight into cultivating a deeper, more fruitful prayer life by focusing on two kinds of prayer— first, “Lord, I’m lost,” and second, “Lord please help.”

introducing...

...the newest members of our family [drum roll please] - not one but two hermit crabs, Whitey and Blue-Blue [the names were decided by the kiddos]. These are our first family pets and the newest members of the Cooper clan. We bought them in a souvenir shop in Gulf Shores, AL a few weeks ago. Here is a picture of the scaredy-cats, Whitey and Blue-Blue while taking a walk across the kitchen counter for their weekly exercise.

reflection on "Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire"

Cymbala’s Story
Jim Cymbala is the Senior Pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle which he described as being a challenge in his early years. In fact, the Tabernacle was on its last broken leg when Cymbala arrived in 1972. He described his first visit to the Tabernacle saying that he could sense that the church had big problems the moment he walked through the doors. He described the current pastor as being discouraged; the worship bordered on “chaotic”; and folks were convinced that an usher was helping himself to the weekly offering. But, at the encouragement of his father-in-law, Cymbala did not throw in the proverbial towel despite the stress and difficulties that this burned out church was facing. He said that early on, he was depressed by what he saw and he felt depressed in his spirit to the point that he couldn’t preach. He said to his small congregation, “I’m sorry…I…I can’t preach in this atmosphere…Something is terribly wrong….I don’t know what to say – I can’t go on…Would the rest of you come to this altar? If we don’t see God help us, I don’t know…” Following the tears and the cries to God, he experienced what he called a spiritual breakthrough. God simply showed up in response to those prayers and cries. He said that he “discovered an astonishing truth: God is attracted to weakness” (19). His new discovery led him to believe that he truly did not know how to lead a congregation as a pastor. Cymbala realized that he truly had to depend upon the Father for his provision and direction in all of life. This realization led him to the conviction that fundamentally, the DNA of the Christian life is prayer. Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire is an invitation for all of us to “face the fact that for our churches and ministries to be all God wants them to be, the must be saturated with prayer” (183).

Cymbala points out that God’s first people were not called “Jews” or “Hebrews” or “the children of Israel.” “In the very beginning,” he says, “their original name was ‘those who call on the name of the LORD’” (cf. Gen. 4:26). Cymbala points out that our English word for “call” is – in the Hebrew language – more attuned to “cry out” or “implore.” “This,” he says, “is the essence of true prayer that touches God” (55). Whether or not you agree that karah-ing is the essence of true prayer, Cymbala makes a good point – this is something we need to be doing on a regular, consistent basis and is consistent with the biblical witness (cf. Jer. 33:3; Ps. 3:4; Ps. 50:15; Ps. 91:15; Isa. 55:6; Jer. 29:12).

Cymbala gives his readers a plethora of examples of where “God showed up” in his life, in the prayer meetings, and on Sunday mornings. He tells of how God transformed the lives of drug addicts, cross-dressers, and even the life of his own daughter who ran away from home. All of the examples in this book give attention to the power of testimony. In our class, we’ve already talked about how the enemy has been defeated by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony (Rev. 12:11), and Cymbala indirectly affirms God’s power through human weakness. There is tremendous power in our sharing our stories with one another. People in the pews need to hear how “God showed up” in others’ lives.

We just finished a new member’s class at our church and the pastor and I agreed that we’d like to have all of our new members share a time in recent months where “God showed up” up in front of the congregation. They were less than thrilled, but agreeable in the end. One gentleman in the class said something about his poor communication skills especially in front of a large group, and while we appreciated his concern, we [the pastor and I] were given an opportunity to encourage our new members by saying that “God’s power is made perfect in our weakness” and that God will speak in to the hearts of those listening. I am reminded of the times when I have preached, and someone would say to me, “I really appreciated it when you said….” But after I thought about it – I didn’t say what they thought they heard! That is the power of the Spirit to speak in to peoples’ lives. So, I’m encouraged that our new members are a little nervous about giving testimony to God’s power in their lives. These are the kinds of people that God really uses effectively to demonstrate His love and advance His kingdom.

A Little Tension
I encountered something unexpected while reading Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire. Cymbala described a situation where he encountered a demon-possessed woman during a Sunday service and after the demon was successfully sent away, the woman praised God. Yet, despite his encounters with the demon-possessed, he is openly skeptical of what is referred to “territorial” demons. He says, “What is the name of the demon over Brooklyn? Where does the New Testament portray this strategy? Did Peter bind the spirit over Joppa or Caesarea?” (106). He goes on to say that he couldn’t find evidence where this kind of “strategy” was being implemented at the local church level. Despite his skepticism of territorial demons, he warns North American Christians to beware of the novelties – beware of the novelties which can lure us away from doing the work that God has called us to do.

Reflection
Cymbala’s book Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire is a great book. It is, for lack of better words, a breath of “fresh” air. What I appreciate the most about this book is the author’s candor and his humility. His humility comes through when he recognized his limitations as a pastor, and leaned in to God for provision. And his candor is appreciated because he makes some honest critiques of North American churches today. In my opinion, he has an important message concerning the centrality of prayer in our churches today that we need to hear. His opinion isn’t popular and Cymbala recognizes that a shift in culture is necessary if we are to be the “church” today. Reformed, Wesleyan, and all other churches need to hear Cymbala’s critique of the church when he says, for example, that the sermon has replaced prayer in churches today. “Does the Bible ever say anywhere from Genesis to Revelation, ‘My house shall be called a house of preaching’?” (71). Of course not, says Cymbala. Preaching, music, Scripture reading are all important practices of the church, however, says Cymbala, “The honest truth is that I have seen God do more in people’s live during ten minutes of real prayer than in ten of my sermons” (71). This is a pretty audacious claim, especially for those of us who appreciate good preaching, but Cymbala’s critique is a valid one. North American churches have under-emphasized the commitment to and the power of prayer. In my experience, our congregants spend minutes – not hours in prayer week-in and week-out. And yet we continually scratch our heads and wonder “Why isn’t revival happening in America today?” Revival is a word I hear in my faith community and it seems clearer to me now that “revival” is not happening on a larger scale because [in part] we are not “praying continually.” I sense that there is a general attitude that North American Christians agree that prayer is important, but very few actually pray more than just a few minutes a day. This is a very sad situation in which we live because there is tremendous power [as we have learned inside and outside this class] in prayer and Methodist preacher, Walter Wink echoes this sentiment,
“When we pray we are not sending a letter to a celestial White House, where it is sorted among piles of others. We are engaged, rather, in an act of co-creation, in which one little sector of the universe rises up and becomes translucent, incandescent, a vibratory centre of power that radiates the power of the universe. History belongs to the intercessors, who believe the future into being. If this is so, then intercession, far from being an escape from action, is a means of focusing for action and of creating action. By means of our intercessions we veritably cast fire upon the earth and trumpet the future into being.”

If I can summarize what Wink is saying here, I would say that prayer is an act of co-creation and history is made by those who intercede and believe the future in to being. In other words, the future is created [in part] through fervent intercessory prayer. God is sovereign, yet strangely, God invites us through prayer in to the very act of co-creation.

I’m reminded of a sermon I preached just a few weeks ago on Jonah 2. In that text, the climax comes at the end of Jonah’s prayer which says, “Salvation belongs to the LORD.” After I had finished preaching we were going to move in to a time of extended prayer where those who desired to receive Christ as Lord of their life would have the opportunity to do so. Immediately following this time of prayer, the congregation was dismissed, and those would like to receive individual prayer and anointing had the opportunity to stay and our “prayer team” would receive them and pray with those who came forward. Now, you must understand that this was not something that was typical for our congregation. This was an experiment of sorts. We were blessed to receive three people who came forward for prayer and I thank God for those who shared their burdens and received prayer. Later, when I was receiving feedback on how that service went, I was bothered by one critique which basically went like this, “I think that the reason not many people came forward after the service for prayer was because we had an extended time of prayer last Sunday.” So, if I understand my friend’s criticism [and read between the lines a little bit], they said to me that one of the reasons not many came forward to receive prayer was because they prayed so much the previous week; therefore, that might be just too much prayer time because last week was a special time of prayer. I hear this same kind of criticism when it comes to not celebrating the Lord’s Supper on a weekly basis because then “it wouldn’t be special.” I resist the belief with all of my being that – whether it pertains to celebrating Communion or participating in times of extended prayer – by doing these kinds of things on a weekly basis would make them “less special.” I think what Cymbala brings in to this conversation is that we, as pastors, need to continually cry out to God not only to transform people’s lives and attitudes but to cultivate a church culture that continually seeks Him in prayer.

Up to this point I’ve already talked about two essential practices that our churches [my church] ought to revisit – extended prayer in Sunday worship and outside of worship as well as the power of personal testimony. There is one final practice I’d like talk about which Cymbala is critical of in his book – how we do worship. Cymbala critiques North American worship by saying,
We have a lot of markngs that look like Christianity these days, but we have drastically revised the parameters. People have lowered the standards in a vain attempt to make churches look more successful than they really are. The sermons have to be uniformly positive, and the services can’t go longer than 60 minutes [his services are 2-2.5 hours in length]. Even then, church is inconvenient for some, especially during football season. Showing up at church is such a burden that soon people will be faxing in their worship! (132).

Cymbala rightly points out that the issue is not length, but appetite! We are hungrier for the NFL, NBA, the internet, and full-length feature movies than we are for the Spirit of God to move and touch us. Further, I agree with Cymbala that Sunday worship is simply too rigid. We’re too focused on time that we can stifle the Spirit’s work simply because we don’t want to be late for something afterward. Cymbala makes a critique that is tough for Refomed and Wesleyan ears to hear, “During times of worship in many churches, the schedule of songs and hymns is so rigid that nothing, not even God’s Spirit, can interrupt” (134). His point is well-taken, but if God’s Spirit wants to interrupt, I believe God’s Spirit can interrupt, but we do need hear is that maybe we ought to leave some flexibility in our weekly liturgy for practices like testimonies and extemporaneous prayer or singing. This openness requires a great deal of paying attention to the Spirit during worship. If the congregation and pastor are sensing the Spirit’s movement then they can join the Spirit in worship.

Application to Life and Ministry
I have been increasingly convicted and more painfully aware that I need and my faith community needs to engage more fervently in prayer - more than just 4 minutes on a Sunday morning.... more than just 5 minutes each and every morning [and maybe every evening if we're lucky].... more than just at meal times. I have been known to say that everything that I do is an "act of prayer." While I believe this to be true - not only for myself but many others I know - I also believe this is just a way for me to avoid getting on my knees and approaching the throne room of God with humility and call upon the Lord for anything and everything. This conviction and intuitive sense is leading me down a path to pursue starting a prayer ministry at my church - or should I say a more "intentional" prayer ministry. I don't know exactly what that looks like at this point, but I was pretty inspired by Cymbala's book in which he basically describes a Wednesday night prayer meeting with worship and testimonies. I might call the ministry “Hymn, Psalms, and Spiritual Songs” where anyone can come to worship, share, and pray. No sermons just crying out to God through different avenues of prayer. This might even be a place where people can receive healing a well. This vision is definitely something I can bring to my pastor and share with him. I may even talk to others to gain a sense of confirmation through the Holy Spirit as well. If this vision is not of God, then perhaps some day I will have the opportunity to implement this at a church I pastor.

earth day

In honor of Earth Day, I offer you a poem from Wendell Berry entitled The Clearing Rests in Song and Shade.

The clearing rests in song and shade.
It is a creature made
By old light held in soil and leaf,
By human joy and grief,
By human work,
Fidelity of sight and stroke,
By rain, by water on
The parent stone.

We join our work to Heaven's gift,
Our hope to what is left,
That field and woods at last agree
In an economy
Of widest worth.
High Heaven's Kingdom come on earth.
Imagine Paradise.
O dust, arise!

~Wendell Berry, from A Timbered Choir: The Sabbath Poems. 1999.

spring break 2009 part one

Once again the Cooper family loaded up the family van and headed south to Gulf Shores, AL for a week-long vacation at the beach. Our journey began at noon on Friday and after a full 23 hours of driving [with a short nap in Huntsville] we finally arrived at our destination at 10 am on Saturday. This trip was filled with potty stops. [We have a three year old with bladder the size of a walnut.] Every 45 minutes or so, we'd cringe when we'd hear, "Mommy! Daddy! I have to go peeeeeee!" Then one of us would say, "You have to hold it son." He would respond, "I caaaaan't!" Even on one occasion literally five minutes after he went he had to go again. [Thanks to all those who have shared ideas on how to speed up our travel time with out slowing down for potty breaks - some were good ideas and others were just plain weird.] We joined my wife's parents, who arrived a week earlier, and we stayed in a lovely five bedroom house right on the Gulf appropriately called Yellow Bird Too. [Yellow Bird One was destroyed by Katrina.]



On our fourth day, we drove to Mobile, AL to tour the U.S.S. Alabama Battleship. I've never been on a battleship before and this was a really neat experience for us all.


Once inside the "bowels" of the ship, we toured the sleeping quarters, the mess hall, the barbershop, the rec room, the brig [see below], officer's quarters, the laundry room. This battleship provides all kinds of "services" for the sailors. Here is a picture of the sleeping quarters. Looks comfy doesn't it?




The latrine - 'nough said.


Here's a revolutionary idea - toilets with adjustable seating! Notice there's no internal plumbing or flushing handle. Kinda gross when you think about it.


The kitchen.


Ah, the brig. Can I get one of these installed in my basement? Just kidding...not really.


I took this picture from the bow of the boat - simply amazing!


After we toured the U.S.S. Alabama, we went through a submarine. I don't recall the name of this particular sub, but this one held about 50 crew members and we walked through pretty much in a single file line from aft to bow. Subs have a very cramped feeling. There's not much wiggle room or free space, so I could see why crew members had to maintain a certain weight in order to be on a sub.






We just "had" to take a picture of the shark souvenir shop in Gulf Shores. The kids were just itching to go! BTW, this place has the best cappucino and peanut butter fudge I've ever had! Excellent fudge!

same kind of different as me

Over break, I had the opportunity to read Same Kind of Different As Me by Denver Moore and Ron Hall. This book is hands down the best book I have read in 2009 thus far. Same Kind of Different is a heart-warming and touching real-life story that will make you laugh, cry, and prudently consider the difference one person can make in the life of another.

Here is the excerpt from the back cover - A dangerous, homeless drifter who grew up picking cotton in virtual slavery. An upscale art dealer accustomed to the world of Armani and Chanel. A gutsy woman with a stubborn dream. A story so incredible no novelist would dare dream it. It begins outside a burning plantation hut in Louisiana . . . and an East Texas honky-tonk . . . and, without a doubt, in the heart of God. It unfolds in a Hollywood hacienda . . . an upscale New York gallery . . . a downtown dumpster . . . a Texas ranch. Gritty with pain and betrayal and brutality, this true story also shines with an unexpected, life-changing love.

I guarantee you'll love this book. If you don't - I'll buy it back from you!

blogging break

I've been on vacation - soaking up some sun in Gulf Shores - and I'll post some vacation pictures when I return.

check the vital signs

"...teaching in today's church is producing limited results. Teaching is good only where there's life to be channeled. If the listeners are in a spiritual coma, what we're telling them may be fine and orthodox, but unfortunately, spiritual life cannot be taught. Pastors and churches have to get uncomfortable enough to say, 'We are not New Testament Christians if we don't have a prayer life.'"
~Jim Cymbala, Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire, 50.

missional thought for the day

What would it look like if my local faith community [or The Wesleyan Church for that matter] partnered with Alcoholics Anonymous to provide time and space for A.A. meetings?

spiritual power & healing

I really enjoy reading MacNutt. Chapter 8, "The Faith to be Healed" gave me some very interesting points to reflect on. First there is the beautiful quote from Ken Hagin where he wrote that we need to open the Word to the sick, and the Word makes its way to the other person's spirit, and as they meditate upon it, they will see that by Jesus' stripes they are healed. Then he says [and this is just beautiful] "I have seen them with every symptom still present say, 'I'm healed.'" That is amazing faith - faith in Jesus. Can you imagine if we all responded in that way???

I was really struck by what MacNutt says on page 101, "Each of us must really search out where we are, and learn to pray in a style that suits the reality of our own personal healing ministry...Do not pretend to be better than you are! Develop your own style as the Spirit leads you." I appreciate this practical advice. I've made it a point to pray more frequently for healing in some people's lives, and while there are some good models for healing prayer, I'm relieved that I can work out my own style - something that fits my personality and faith.

MacNutt continues, "Use whatever gifts you have...and above all, love people, and you may yet see miracles" (102). Yes, above all, LOVE PEOPLE!

spiritual power, healing, and the "w"

A few week ago, I had the privilege of meeting and hearing speak, Ted and Claudia Kallman, who together lead a prayer and healing ministry at Mars Hill Bible Church in nearby Grandville, MI. This is an amazing couple who are filled with amazing stories of how God has answered prayers of healing through their ministry. On any given Wednesday night, hundreds of people come to the "W" at Mars for prayer and healing. The Kallmans estimate that 60-70% of the people they pray for are healed both instantly and progressively. While I recognize that God has anointed this couple in a special way, The W is a place where people from all over West MI come to worship and pray for healing.

I am planning on attending a worship and healing service at The W tomorrow night to observe and participate. I am anxiously anticipating what God will do. As a matter of fact - the day the Kallmans came to my class to speak, a class mate of mine told the class that he was prompted by God to wait for class to begin before we prayed with him for his neck pain. Ted and Claudia affirmed that his patience in waiting was a sign that God indeed want to heal my friend of his pain. So our small class "swarmed" my friend in prayer and the best part was - God showed up and healed my friend from his pain.

I believe with all my heart that God wants to heal us today and make us whole - if only we'd pray more insistently and boldly for healing.

on leadership

Leadership requires disturbing people - but at a rate they can absorb.
~by Heifetz & Linsky, Leadership on the Line, 20.

time out

Two bored children,
inquisitive minds,
carefree escapades,
household havoc.
My biblical meditation assaulted.
My concentration distracted.
My spirituality fractured.
My carnal naure stirred.

I rose up,
captured my "space invaders."
We rumbled, raced around a park,
swings...sodas...

We walked back home,
hand in hand.
I worshiped God today
as the four of us played.

Wife under pressure,
frazzled beyond measure.
I'm weary and stressed.
Mutual consternation.
Emotional frustration.
Dangerous combination.

We rose up,
canceled weekend business,
left the house mess.
Picnic on the beach.
Lips within reach.
Love refreshed,
heart in heart.

We worshiped God today
as the three of us played.

~R.N. and Mary Hawkins

spiritual power in the old testament

It has increasingly become more clear to me that one simply cannot read a single page in the Bible without noticing the evidence of spiritual power. I think we'd be hard pressed not to find an example on any given page [except maybe for the Psalms and wisdom literature]. But open randomly to any page - particularly in the Old Testament or New Testament Gospels - and guaranteed some incredible sign or miracle or wonder is taking place. So, why is it then when we read the Bible - and when I say "we" I mean mostly "me" - that we either ignore the evidence of spiritual power or we just gloss over it all the while thinking to ourselves, "Oh, well that was cool" and put our heads back down and continue reading as if it didn't really happen or mean anything in particular.

I'm going offer one example of spiritual power in the Old Testament which relates to my previous post on worldview, which you can check out by clicking here. The text comes from Genesis 28:10-17, which reads -

Jacob left Beersheba and went to Haran. He came to a certain place and camped for the night since the sun had set. He took one of the stones there, set it under his head and lay down to sleep. And he dreamed: A stairway was set on the ground and it reached all the way to the sky; angels of God were going up and going down on it.
Then God was right before him, saying, "I am God, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. I'm giving the ground on which you are sleeping to you and to your descendants. Your descendants will be as the dust of the Earth; they'll stretch from west to east and from north to south. All the families of the Earth will bless themselves in you and your descendants. Yes. I'll stay with you, I'll protect you wherever you go, and I'll bring you back to this very ground. I'll stick with you until I've done everything I promised you." Jacob woke up from his sleep. He said, "God is in this place—truly. And I didn't even know it!" He was terrified. He whispered in awe, "Incredible. Wonderful. Holy. This is God's House. This is the Gate of Heaven." [The Message]



So, what in the world is going on here and what does it have to do with spiritual power and worldview? Well, the world of the scriptures is strange and wonderful - so there is a gap between the scriptural worldview and what we are typically taught in the West. This passage commonly referred to as "Jacob's ladder" seems to pose problems for many of us who subscribe to either a naturalist or dualist worldview. This passage illiminates the sacramental or biblical worldview.

Jacob is running away and does not have a home at this time. He left Beersheba and is running toward Haran. He is a fugitive. He doesn't have a place. Basically, he's a no "body" right now. As the sun sets, he set his head on a stone as a "head stone." And in a dream he saw a stairway to heaven and he saw angels ascending and descending the the stairway - probably much like the picture above - a sort of continuous processional. Angels are a symbol system of talking about the embodiment of the gracious power of God. Angels are the embodiment of the love of God and God sends them out to proclaim this love. Judgment is not outside of God's love either. So it is also true that agnels are the embodiment of God's judgment. However, love and judgment are not opposites of each other.

Okay, so God said to Jacob, "I am with you..." So Jacob is lost and God is with him. Jacob is being directed by God vis-a-vis his dream to thevery infrastructure of reality as it really is. Jacob is not being taken out of the world...he's being taken in to the very center of it. What Jacob saw in his dream is what we would see if the layers of the material world could be peeled back to expose this infrastructure. This is a sacramental moment where the heavens and the earth kiss to reveal what reality is truly like. This is really cool to think about. What do you think? Can you wrap your mind around the infrastructure of our world as depicted as angels ascending and descending a stairway all the while proclaiming God's love for creation? I can. And it's amazing!

River Jordan by Vusi Mahlasela

spiritual power and worldview

Oh, how to begin this conversation. Hmmm...spiritual power is not something that is talked about widely in the circles that I run in. However, when I read the Bible, I have found that you cannot read a single page without some sort of spiritual power being demonstrated or proclaimed. So, what comes to mind when I say the words, "spiritual power"? My mind immediately thinks of things like - heaven, hell, God, Satan, angels, demons, miraculous healing, and the like. All of these things, I believe, are related to the topic of spiritual power; and I'm reminded of a conversation I had with my parents when I told them I was taking a course at the seminary on spiritual power, and one of my folks asked, "So are you going to learn to do exorcisms?" It's was an honest question, and one that makes me smile. I reassured them that no I would not be learning to perform exorcism...bummer.

I think a natural starting point for talking about spiritual power ought to begin with worldview. Okay...so what is worldview [and is there more than one worldview?] and why is worldview important? One definition of worldview is our basic assumptions about reality which lie behind the beliefs and behaviors of any given culture. Other common worldviews include - naturalist, dualist, animist, theist, post-modern, deist, New Age, and sacramental. What is missing? What other worldviews are there? Think about this - if you subscribe to a particular worldview, what does this worldview say about how you experience the world around you? Or...or how has your worldview changed over the course of your life?

Why is worldview important? I think, simply, that worldview is important because worldview is the lens by which we experience and understand all aspects of life including spiritual power. For example, someone who subsribes to a naturalist worldview [by which I mean that reality is only those things by which our five senses can detect] will have a very, very small [or no] understanding [or appreciation for] of spiritual power or their understanding of power will be relegated to the physical realm.

Another popular worldview in the Western world is what I'll call a dualist worldview, whereby a spiritual realm and the physical realm do exist but are separate realms which have very little to do with each other. A good example of this view is the view that we [as human beings] have physical bodies with spiritual or immortal souls in the sense that we are embodied souls and when we die our bodies decay and our souls are lifted to heaven where we will live with God [somewhere up there] for all eternity. Now, I have oversimplified this worldview just a bit, but the point is when we die our bodies decay and remain while our "soul" is lifted upwards to heaven.

A third worldview, which is where I am at today, is what is sometimes referred to as the sacramental worldview. This view acknowledges the physical realm and the spiritual realm, but instead of being distinct entities [as a dualist view hold], these two realms overlap and kiss each other. See the slide below. This I believe is the biblical worldview, meaning that when we read the Bible we should read it through this set of lenses. God and humans [and the earth] are intimately connected, like two lovers. For example, when we die though our bodies are buried, there will come a time when Jesus Christ with a whole heavenly host, will descend upon the earth, and God will make all things new. The dead will rise [not decay eternally] with Christ, and we will be renewed - made more fully human [if that is possible to conceive] and fully restored in to the image of God. I could go on and on about this, but the point is a sacramental worldview recognizes that the spritual and physical realms overlap and are connected to one another. In my next post, I'll give one example from the Bible where this is most evident.



Questions to ponder:
1) What worldview do you subscribe to? What does your view say about you and what does it say about God?
2) How has your worldview changed?
3) Does anything I say surprise you? How?

history belongs to the intercessors

When we pray we are not sending a letter to a celestial White House, where it is sorted among piles of others. We are engaged, rather, in an act of co-creation, in which one little sector of the universe rises up and becomes translucent, incandescent, a vibratory centre of power that radiates the power of the universe.

History belongs to the intercessors, who believe the future into being. If this is so, then intercession, far from being an escape from action, is a means of focusing for action and of creating action. By means of our intercessions we veritably cast fire upon the earth and trumpet the future into being. ~Walter Wink

creation to revelation

So last Sunday was a big Sunday for me. I had a large part to play in the overall theme and scheme of last Sunday's worship service which included lots of music, Scripture reading, painting, and showing some really cool clips from a DVD entitled, Sand Story, which you can check out here.

The overall theme of the service was to take our congregation [in 70 minutes or less mind you] from creation to revelation. It was powerful. Everyone did such a wonderful job. If you can imagine, we book-ended the service with Scripture readings from Genesis and Revelation while three "artists" worked together to paint the scene! So, the creation painting looked rather abstract, but you can picture a garden scene being painted. And then at the end of the service, the artists painted a great city - the new Jerusalem - on the earth as Revelation describes it. It was awesome! I have the service on my hard drive, but it's 5 gig, so if anyone knows how I can transfer this huge file - please let me know. I'll post the worship order just in case you'd like to do something like this at your church.

The Story: Creation to Revelation
January 25, 2009

Opening:
Three “Artists” begin to paint the creation of the world during the opening song.
Need three people.
Song: Majestic
Paint supplies needed – paint, easel, brushes, canvas for floor, etc.
Scripture: A reading from Genesis 1

Creation from Sand Story DVD

Scripture: Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Song: Love the Lord Your God (Lincoln Brewster)

Song: Psalm 23 (written by Lori Bond)

Meditation

The Coming of the Christ – “The Coming of the Christ”
Scripture: Mark 1:1-9
Song: Prepare Ye the Way (Michael W. Smith)

Scripture: Reading from Matthew 5:1-11

Passion from Sand Story DVD

Communion:
Scripture: comes from Pastor as he re-enacts the Last Supper
Song: For God So Loved the World
Song: My Jesus, I Love Thee

Scripture: Reading from 2 Corinthians 5:17-21
Song: Majesty

Closing:
Scripture: Revelation 21 or 22
Three “Artists” come back to paint a picture of heaven on earth (from Rev. 22).
Need three people (can be the same as the first).
Song: Revelation Song
Song: Doxology

Oh, and the coolest part of this was that I found out that two people gave their lives to Jesus during that service. That...[in the words of Pastor Perry Noble] never gets old! Very cool!

changing gears

I'd like to change gears for a while by focusing on something completely different. I'm currently enrolled in a Spiritual Powers course at seminary, and I'd like to translate some of my learnings [as well as my thoughts, feelings, and experiences] from class to this blog. This will be a space where I will engage questions centered around worldview; the realities of good and evil; God and Satan; angels and demons; miracles, signs, and wonders; as well as healing. I will also be drawing from my readings of two authors - Francis MacNutt who wrote a tremendous book called Healing; as well as Signs and Wonders by John Algera. I look forward to creating time and space to talk about the realm of spiritual power.

the unfolding life of the missional church, part three

Copyright Josh Cooper 2009.

This is the third and final post concerning the unfolding life of the missional church where I explore missional church leadership and a new term [to me anyway] called pneumocracy. You can view my previous posts on the unfolding of the missional church by clicking below.

1. Missional Understanding

2. Ecclesial Practices and Values

Leadership
I’ve been thinking a lot about the role of the pastor in missional communities, and I’d like to explore my version of the munus triplex – the three-fold office – of the pastor as prophet, priest, and poet (Guder). I will attempt to associate an particular practice with each of these offices as identified by Eugene Peterson. For example, the office of prophet is associated with spiritual direction; and the office of priest is coupled with the study of Scripture; and the office of poet is connected to the practice of prayer. Just to be clear, I believe all three offices make use of all three of these practices, but I am stressing a particular value for each office.

Pastor as Prophet
The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
It is written in Isaiah the prophet:
"I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way”—
"a voice of one calling in the desert,
'Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.' "And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins….And this was his message: "After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit” (Mark 1:1-4;7,8).

The way I see it, one of the central functions of the pastor is that of prophet. For centuries prophets proclaimed and enacted the word of the Lord and spoke as the very mouthpiece of the God. Like John the Baptist, one of the purposes of the pastor is to ‘prepare the way for the Lord’ and point people in the direction of “new creation” – new life which can only be found in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit. Eugene Peterson, in his delightful book, Working the Angles, refers to this calling of pastors as “spiritual direction.” Spiritual direction is, in Peterson’s opinion, one of three callings of the pastor today. The other two callings are: a call to prayer, and a call to biblical study. Peterson says that pastors are abandoning their high callings, and he encourages pastors everywhere to reclaim their commitments to prayer, study, and spiritual direction. Peterson says this about the role of the pastor, “The biblical fact is that there are no successful churches. There are, instead, communities of sinners, gathered before week after week in towns and villages all over the world. The Holy Spirit gathers them and does his work in them. In these communities of sinners, one of the sinners is called pastor and given a designated responsibility in the community. The pastor's responsibility is to keep the community attentive to God. It is this responsibility that is being abandoned in spades" (Peterson). The pastor as prophet – a sinner among sinners – gives voice to God’s story and vision by keeping the community “attentive to God” by providing spiritual direction in a way that proclaims, “Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.”

Pastor as Priest
The practice of Scripture study is connected to the biblical metaphor of the pastor as priest. This practice is intended for the pastor to become “passionate hearers of the word rather than cool readers of the page” (Peterson). One way to be transformed in to passionate hearers of the word is to embody the biblical text. We have learned in our Hebrew courses, and I have come to believe that when we exercise our memories and commit the text to memory, the Word works within us in such a way that we become intimately involved in the story. There is this outside-inside-outside movement that takes place as we move from reading the text to memorizing the text to enacting the text. Peterson says it this way, “Listening to Scripture, of course, presupposes reading Scripture. We have to read before we can listen. But we can read without going on to listen” (Peterson). The key to the practice of Scripture study is to not remain in the reading of Scripture but to move, by the Spirit’s guidance, into the listening (as Peterson puts it) or “embodying” phase of Scripture study.

Pastor as Poet
The last office of the pastor is that of poet. The pastor as poet is most intriguing to me because I’ve never encountered this metaphor before. I’ve associated the practice of prayer with this office. The pastor as poet is an approach to leadership that “enables persons to come to terms with the emotions of change within. What is required of leadership at this point is an ability to articulate, or bring to verbal expression, the actual experiences of the congregation” (??). The pastor not only serves as the mouthpiece of God proclaiming “the way of the Lord” but also serves as the poet for the people. In some way, then, prayers are like poetry – not in the superfluous sense, but in the “from the gut” sense, much like the opening verses of Psalm 130, “Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD; O Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.” The pastor as a poet uses his or her voice to cry out to God and articulates the deep-seated emotion that comes from deep inside a person’s gut.

This Psalm is not a Psalm that begins with praise or adoration. It begins at the reality of where the psalmist is – in the very depths. Notice that the psalmist says, Lord, hear my voice, not – Lord, hear my prayer. It’s as if the psalmist is saying I want you Lord to not only hear my words, but I want you to hear my voice. I want you to hear the anguish in my soul…I want you to hear the hurt in my gut. I want you to hear the heart break behind the words. This cry for mercy has come from a deep place – someplace deep within the person’s gut. St. John Chrysostom likened prayers like this to a tree with deep roots, "Prayers like this have immense force, not being overturned or undermined, even should the devil attack with great impetus. Just as, for example, a mighty tree that sends its roots to great depth in the earth resists any blast of wind, whereas the one that rests on the surface is dislodged with a slight breeze blowing against it, is uprooted and falls to the earth, so too do the prayers rising from below after sending roots to the depths remain intense and unyielding."

“Prayers rising from below after sending roots to the depths” have immense force says Chrystostom. The poetical pastor helps give their people a voice to express their most deep-felt longings, fears, and joys. The pastor is “deeply immersed in the Christian Story; listens to the people’s stories; and brings to the surface the voice and soul of the people” (Crossing).

Pneumocracy
It’s at this point in our discussion that I’d like to briefly address the pneumocratic framework within the missional community. Through baptism and faith, all followers of Christ have received certain gifts of the Spirit for edification and encouragement for the entire community. “Therefore it is important that all be involved in discerning what God requires of them” (Guder). Yes, this is true, so why does this seem so impractical to implement? Does pneumocracy necessarily imply that “all” be involved in the discerning processes of where and how God is leading the community? “Thus communities of giftedness are neither autocratic nor democratic but pneumocratic. Authority within missional communities is found neither in particular status nor in majority opinion” (Guder). It seems to me that most, if not all communities of faith, unintentionally teeter somewhere between democracy and pneumocracy. Pneumocracy sounds nice, yet difficult to grasp. How are decisions made? How does this work out practically speaking? Can we even speak practically of it? Guder continues, “The feelings and commitments of all members will be affirmed and considered as they carefully analyze all the available evidence and perspectives on an issue.” Though I'm a little skeptical of this in practice, I'd like to believe that it is possible for congregations to make decisions using this form of decision-making. I just haven't seen it employed effectively.

Questions to Ponder:
1) What is your leadership style? Do any of the offices I mentioned resonate within you?
2) What do you think of Peterson's challenge of focusing only on prayer, Scripture reading, and spiritual direction?
3) How does your community or congregation make decisions? Ever heard of pneumocracy?

the unfolding life of the missional church, part two

Copyright Josh Cooper 2009.

Cultivating Communal Practices by Living in Obedience to God's Call

Ecclesial Practices and Values
"Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.

"So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. (Acts 2:41-47)

At Pentecost, with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, God’s promise to send a Counselor became a reality. And those who received the word were baptized into the community of believers and the Lord added to their numbers. And this community of people devoted themselves to prayer, breaking of bread, learning doctrine and practicing fellowship. They were living in unity bonded together by their baptism and faith in Jesus Christ – serving as living witnesses of God’s reign on earth. “God’s promised reign of love and hope, compassion and reconciliation, harmony and justice, is incarnated in a new humanity, a people commissioned to represent the gospel of peace (shalom) to the alienated and hostile powers of the world" (Guder). This new reality is called koinonia. The church is a called community of God’s people which points beyond itself to the promised fulfillment of the coming reign of God. It does this by celebrating God’s activity and deeds (worship), discerning God’s active presence (prayer), participating in God’s transforming power (ministry of healing, wholeness), and proclaiming God’s dynamic vision for all creation (preaching and witness) (Guder).

Koinonia stands in opposition to the autonomous myth that individuals are free to form their own life – free to write their own story. In opposition to the ideals of autonomy, koinonia communities participate in practices received from tradition; however, the benefits of the practices can only be gained by participation (Guder). Practices grow and change as we receive the Spirit’s direction. The purpose of ecclesial practices is to make visible the invisible – to make the natural supernatural – by participating in the “creative power, redeeming love, and transforming presence of God in the ongoing mission of the reconciliation of all humanity and the healing of all creation (Guder).

Leslie Newbigin puts it this way, “From the beginning of the Bible to its end we are presented with the story of a universal purpose carried out through a continuous series of particular choices.” God’s mission is unfolded page by page in the Bible and He accomplishes his cosmic purposes through a few who are chosen to be the bearers of the purpose for the sake of all until the final day. God’s universal purpose of restoration is, according to Newbigin, “accomplished through the choosing of particular people which arises from this fundamental insight concerning human nature” – that human beings exist only in relationship with others and in relationship with creation. Therefore, “no one can be made whole except by being restored to the wholeness of that being-in-relatedness for which God made us and the world and which is the image of that being-in-relatedness which is the being of God himself” (Newbigin). The doing of God flows from the being of God – through the “being-in-relatedness” of God to himself vis-à-vis the Trinity. Likewise, the doing of the church flows from the being of the church. “For, by the cross of Jesus Christ,” Paul Santmire wrote, “God has intervened in our sinful history to restore us to our rightful relationship to the divine and therefore to our rightful relationship with other human beings and indeed with the whole world of nature…the church lives by the grace of God as the embodied, congregated testimony of both the restoration and the foretaste God has brought forth in Christ.”

Therefore, ecclesial practices should flow naturally out of ecclesial values. Values are simple expressions of who God is and what God’s work and word proclaim. Values rooted in God’s word help further define ecclesial practices by giving tangible yet imperfect expression to those established values. Values include (but are not limited to): creation, worship, diversity, reconciliation, wholistic spirituality, mutual embrace, and relationship. Practices which flow from values include: baptism, celebrating the Lord’s Supper, reconciliation, discernment, hospitality, interpretation of Scripture, leadership development, proclamation of God’s word, prayer, creation care, stewardship, Spirit-given gifts, and fruit of the Spirit. And to the fruit of the Spirit we shall turn.

“But the fruit of the Spirit,” says Paul, “is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Galatians 5:22-24). Paul says that those who have been baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection (the supernatural) live lives which produce Spirit-filled fruit (natural). “Life according to the Spirit is lived in keeping with the commitments and norms of God’s promised reign,” says Guder, and one of the most tangible expressions of the church today is the fruit of the Spirit.

Consider the alternative – the works of the flesh, the ideal of the autonomous self which are: “sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you,” says Paul, “as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:19-21). The works of the flesh include attitudes, desires, motivations, and behaviors of those persons who live in their own and the world’s fallenness – life before and outside Christ (Guder).

For Paul, the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit are not competing realities that wage war in a person. Rather, the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit are separate realities that compete against each other and Paul reminds those who are in Christ that it is impossible to live in both realities at the same time. Paul reminds his listeners that through baptism and faith in Jesus Christ, a person is a “new creation.” The “old creation” is gone, along with the works of the flesh, and the “new creation” is here - a new reality guided by the Spirit – exemplified by a life of love, joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, goodness, and self-control. “When the Spirit transforms the life and practice of Christian communities,” Guder wrote, “they demonstrate that God’s promised future has been set in motion. The joy, freedom, and wholeness of life within the reign of God can already be tasted even if not yet fully consummated" (Guder).

Questions to ponder:
1) What is the relationship between ecclesial values and practices?
2) Do humans really exist only in relationship to one another and to creation?
3) Does being come before doing; or does doing come before being? Which influences which?
4) What is the role of the Holy Spirit in all of this?