Talk The Talk

Your house is to be called a house of PRAYER.

Not a house of EVANGELISM. Not a house of DISCIPLESHIP. Not a house of PREACHING. Not a house of TEACHING. Not a house of COUNSELING. Not a house of WORSHIP. Not a house of SERVICE. Not a house of FELLOWSHIP. Not a house of MINISTRY. Not a house of OUTREACH. Not a house of MISSIONS. A house of PRAYER.

What happens when prayer stops being the main thing?

Church becomes little more than a weekly social ritual.

So a true revival is not only a revival of evangelism but first and foremost a revival of prayer.

Without prayer there is no EVANGELISM, there is no DISCIPLESHIP, there is no PREACHING, there is no TEACHING, there is no COUNSELING, there is no WORSHIP, there is no SERVICE, there is no FELLOWSHIP, there is no MINISTRY, there is no OUTREACH, there is no MISSIONS. Everything in my house must be permeated and saturated with prayer. Otherwise I am not in it.

But the Bible says all those things are God-honoring!

How can I be in all those things when there is no room for me to be in all those things because the door that opens to my presence in all those things has been locked by prayerlessness?

Which is exactly what you warn against in 2 Chronicles 7:14 when you say “IF my people…will humble themselves and pray.” That’s a really big IF, especially in this day and age when our time is largely filled with countless, meaningless, techno-savvy distractions.

I would say it is the biggest IF my church has to overcome today. It’s even bigger than “If you love me, obey my commandments.” There simply is not nearly enough prayer cascading toward my throne from my church.

So true spirituality is a trickle-down effect from prayer to obedience.

Exactly.

But the trickle can’t begin just anywhere, can it? I mean, isn’t that the problem with our churches today? We try to put a bunch of different things in place of prayer, and then ask you to bless them, still fully expecting this trickle down effect from whatever area we choose to emphasize over prayer. Trouble is, we are starting the trickle from a place you never intended.

No substitutes allowed. Prayer is the beginning point of all true spirituality. If you don’t communicate with me, don’t expect me to bless you or your efforts. My blessing is always given in proportion to your prayers.

Some people think they aren’t spiritual unless they curl up with you in their own little designated prayer closet, when in reality this kind of posture and position and location is really quite difficult to come by.

Yes and no. Yes, I did tell you in the New Testament to go into your room and close your door whenever you prayed, but no, that is not the only time you can commune with me. In fact, I prefer you communicate with me as often as you can. The more you communicate with me, the more fresh and vibrant our relationship will be.

Kind of like human relationships. In a truly God-honoring marriage, a husband doesn’t just communicate to with his wife at a designated time every day. He communicates with her as often as he can. Some conversations are short, some conversations are long, some are intense, some are hum-drum, but all go toward building a solid relationship with his wife. And they don’t all happen in the same location, either. Much happen on the go.

Prayer that truly pleases me is exactly that–relationship-building. Your prayer won’t always win an Oscar for dramatic effectiveness, and your prayer won’t always be boring beyond words. But you should always still pray. I don’t care what it sounds like or how you say it. What I care about is you living your life in me so I can live my life through you. A prayer life is merely the spiritual continnum and equivalent of communication between human beings. It’s not some foreign object you can’t understand. If you can talk to human beings, then you can surely talk to me. I think you’ll find I’m a pretty good listener.

You’re ready to listen. We’re experts at talk. What’s our big problem then?

2 Chronicles 7:14. “If my people…will HUMBLE THEMSELVES and PRAY.” You have to have a humble heart in order to pray effectively, and you have to humble it in my presence through confession and repentance.

Meaning we have to deal with our sin before we can deal with our prayers.

Exactly.

But we’re not so big on sin, are we? Just like Adam, we would much rather attempt a getaway into the woods than have to face up to the sins we’ve committed against you and against others.

Pride goes before destruction…

And a haughty spirit before a fall.

Just a few willing hearts and this nation will see a revival like at no other time in its history.

Politics God’s Way

Political polarization (e.g. Republicans vs. Democrats) among Christians is the direct result of sacrificing a biblical worldview on the altar of political fancy.

Were God allowed to have a voice, even the most cursory examination of biblical truth would reveal that at some point along the way God’s teachings step on the toes of all political parties–Republicans, Democrats, Independents, Libertarians, Green Party, etc. etc.

This being true, the question for biblically informed Christians is not what political party to support, but which political agenda most glorifies and honors the values God espouses in His Word?

The third commandment states, “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.” This commandment has often been construed as a prohibition of all forms of cussing, from four-letter words to non-glorifying references to Jesus Christ. And just like that we excuse it: “God said not to cuss, so you better nor cuss.”

That’s not how the Hebrews heard it. The Hebrew mind knew that God’s name was interchangeable with God’s person, and that to take His name meant to voluntarily identify yourself as His follower. So to take His name in vain means to identify yourself as a follower of God, but then not abide by God’s rules and regulations or believe what God tells you to believe. In other words, calling yourself a follower of God but not acting and believing like a follower of God.

But what if I don’t know what the Bible teaches on certain moral and social issues? Can I just vote according to how I was raised, or what I think is best? You can, but you would be committing spiritual treason against our Lord Jesus Christ by taking His name in vain.

Being a Christian obligates you to uphold Christian beliefs, values, and principles, and in an election year,  to support candidates whose platforms most closely mirror the teachings of Scripture. If you don’t know what Scripture says about abortion, the economy, war, education, size of government, appointing judges, or foreign policy, then you truly do not know where to stand on political issues. You may think you do, but in God’s eyes you don’t.

But the answers are there. Take time to read, research, and compile from Scripture a list of guiding convictions according to which you need to vote this November. Then read, research, and compile a list of issues each candidate stands for, and vote for the candidate whose values, beliefs, and convictions, and past records most closely mirror that of Scripture.

Then every four years, reevaluate your political party affiliation to make sure that the candidates and issues you support glorify and honor God.

THAT’s the Christian thing to do.

Wrap It

The last thing you want is for the lifeblood of your student ministry to be pop culture commentary.

Though it is essential to understand youth culture in order to communicate to youth culture, making youth culture the preeminent focus of your student ministry is tantamount to building your ministry on shifting sand.

A biblical youth ministry exalts Christ though His Word as the Supreme Head over all creation, and utilizes culture as the wrapping paper in which to package gospel truth.

The metaphors found in youth culture today function much the same way agricultural metaphors functioned in Jesus’ culture. It is no more or no less biblical to cast biblical truth in terms of movies, music, and internet concepts than it is to cast it through vine, branches, fields, harvests, threshing, and sowing so long as…

THE CHOSEN MODERN CONCEPTS ACCURATELY COMMUNICATE THE ORIGINAL MEANING OF JESUS’ ORIGINAL AGRICULTURAL METAPHORS.

This principle applies to the rest of biblical truth as well. Make it relevant by packaging it in accurate, meaningful cultural images and icons to which modern culture can relate.

All things considered, there are still moments when certain events provide a perfect opportunity to waver from the prescribed curriculum in order to speak cutting-edge biblical truth into student culture.

It is to the detriment of your student ministry to ignore such God-given opportunities.

What makes the the birth of Maddie Spears, newborn daughter of 17-year-old Jamie Lynn Spears, who is the younger sister of Britney Spears, so relevant to student ministry is the fact that Jamie Lynn and her boyfriend, the father of the baby, met at CHURCH in their YOUTH GROUP.

Read that again. They met AT CHURCH in their YOUTH GROUP.

Passing up the opportunity to provide a loving, truthful biblical critique of this situation at a time when interest from teenage America is at an all time is like winning a million dollars and squandering it on a lifetime supply of Hubba Bubba. Missed opportunities only come around once.

To make this lesson a reality, visit the Center for Parent and Youth Understanding at cpyu.org. Click on the blog called “Understanding My Lines” by Walt Mueller and read the blog entitled “1,000,000 words.” You will easily figure out what to do from there.

This is a discussion you will not want to miss.

Far In

Like the stone David slung toward Goliath, the below truth hit me right between the eyes this week, and I am still seeking to recover.

There is no modern worship, and there is no ancient worship. There are no worship styles, and there are no worship preferences. There are only worship postures and worship practices, both of which are universally applicable to every generation.

Now there may be varying styles of music, but music in and of itself is not worship. There may be varying styles of singing, but singing in and of itself is not worship. There may be varying kinds of instruments, but instruments in and of themselves are not worship.

Worship, in Scripture, is wholly and finally a matter of the heart.

Cain brought God some of the crops he had harvested, keeping the firstfruits for himself.

Abel brought God the firstborn of his flock (an undefiled offering), and its fat portions (a valuable offering), giving God the very best of what he had.

Scripture comments on Cain and Abel saying that Cain was “of the wicked one” and Abel was “righteous” before God, thus introducing the concept of good and evil worship.

Abel chose good worship, giving God the very best. Cain chose evil worship, giving God what he could scrape together from the leftovers.

Time-money-resources-whatever: when you eat the steak for yourself and give last Thanksgiving’s leftovers to God, you are guilty of evil worship. But when you choke down last Thanksgiving’s leftovers so you can give God the best, your worship is fully and completely pleasing to God.

When our heart is right, we can worship right. “If you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”

Bon Appetit

Is it like a Krispy Kreme doughnut hot off the conveyor belt, oozing and dripping with hot, sticky icing, waiting to bulldoze your bloodstream with blasts of liquid sugar?

Is it like school cafeteria or youth camp food, sometimes tasty sometimes bland, but often lacking sufficient seasoning?

Is it like chugging a schooner of freshly squeezed lime juice, all the while feasting on an appetizer of lemon peels?

Or is your prayer life like the most mouth-watering steak, simmering in the juiciest marinade, fork-tender, falling off the knife, and topped with the tastiest, zestiest, most flavor-accentuating sauce?

It’s not that Jesus didn’t teach us how to pray. He did. We just don’t follow His teaching. Like the Pharisees, we often think we will be heard for our many spiritual-sounding words.

The knee-jerk reaction to following Jesus’ teaching is that “Jesus surely doesn’t mean we have to repeat his model prayer word-for-word every time we pray. Wouldn’t that be vain repetition, and didn’t Jesus condemn vain repetition prior to teaching the model prayer?”

Absolutely. But notice His exact words: “In this MANNER, therefore, pray.”

Automobile manufacturers do not create the same car over and over again. They use the basic components of a car to craft a variety of makes and models. The basic components of the car are the blueprint by which all other cars are made. In order for a car to be considered a car, it must have all the basic components of a car. Otherwise it cannot be considered a car.

The same is true of prayer. In order for God to consider a prayer pleasing, or even for God to consider it a prayer, it must be constructed from the blueprint He provides. If it is not constructed from this blueprint, it cannot be considered pleasing to Him.

True prayer follows this format:

You are our Heavenly Father

You are King over all Creation

All glory belongs to You

Expand Your kingdom on earth

Accomplish Your will on earth

Meet all our needs

Forgive us our sins

Protect us from sin

Rescue us from sin

All kingdoms belong to You

All power belongs to You

All glory belongs to You

So where do specific requests for healing fall? “All glory belongs to You, Expand Your kingdom, Accomplish Your will.” And sometimes, if the sickness is largely sin-induced, “Forgive us our sins.” And in the event the burden of sickness is laid heavily upon a family such that weekly provision is severely affected, “Meet our needs.”

What about requests for someone’s salvation? “All glory belongs to You, Expand your kingdom, Accomplish Your will, Rescue them from sin, Forgive them of sin, Protect them from sin.”

What about temptations, tribulations, persecutions? “Meet our needs, Forgive us our sins, Protect us from sin, Rescue us from sin, All glory belongs to You, All power belongs to You.”

Use these words as a springboard from which to launch your own prayer. Just keep your prayer within the proper guidelines of each category and perspective.

The best part of God’s prayer blueprint is that you can use as much or as little of it as needed at any given point in time before going to His throne of grace. And the best part of using God’s blueprint is that the more you use it, the closer you come to tasting that perfectly prepared steak for which you have yearned so long.

Big Jesus

Just made an interesting discovery. The magnitude of it still has yet to hit me. I had heard it mentioned many times before, but every time a pastor said something about it, they would never back up their claim. So I always had a hard time teaching it, because I could not validate its veracity. But now I absolutely can because of John 6:46: “Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father.” Notice the comprehensive finality of Jesus’ words: Not a single human being who has ever lived on planet earth, save for Jesus, has ever seen the Father. It was Jesus who walked in the garden in the cool of the day with Adam and Eve. It was Jesus who called to Moses from the burning bush. It was Jesus who guided the children of Israel as a pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. It was Jesus who gave the Ten Commandments in fire and smoke. It was Jesus to whom David referred as God, Lord, and LORD throughout the Psalms. With whom did Abraham bargain for Sodom and Gomorrah? Jesus! Who sent the ravens to Elijah? Jesus! Who fought for Israel as they sought to take the Promised Land? Jesus! Not a single human being who has ever lived on planet earth, save for Jesus, has ever seen the Father. That means Jesus is both the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament. So the Bible is truly all about Jesus! So where does the Father come in? In everything He did throughout both testaments, Jesus MANIFESTED the Father, serving as His agent and messenger. He did nothing on His own and could do nothing on His own. He simply did what He saw the Father do and spoke what He heard the Father speak. But His person was the one with whom all divine-human interactions took place. If we teach our students that Jesus is the God of the Old Testament as well as the God of the New Testament, and we use His name when teaching some of the more–well–severe passages, our students will quickly realize that having a personal relationship with Jesus is not something to take for granted but something for which to be extremely grateful. They will also be able to unify the entire message of the Bible in the person and work of Jesus Christ, thus becoming more astute Bible students. And they will ultimately develop a big, balanced, mysterious, accurate view of Jesus, confessing their limited understanding and bowing down to Him as their one and only king.

Lick the Click

Don’t settle for anything less than a full, bona fide, genuine click. And when you get the click, keep pursuing the click. If you have been in student ministry long enough to become thoroughly frustrated with the biblically illiterate, technologically savvy teenage subculture, that’s okay. What you do know for sure is that the “click”–that eureka moment when everything you have been teaching from Scripture suddenly comes alive and make sense to your students–hasn’t happened yet. But it will, in God’s time and in God’s way. What God wants you to do in the meantime is exhaust His creativity to continue making Scripture come alive for your students. Eventually something will hit them right between the eyes and knock them down, leaving them temporarily culturally paralyzed. And once that paralysis sets in, they are ready to listen with open hearts and open ears. Remember: Unpredictability breeds imbalance, imbalance breeds discomfort, and discomfort precedes open hearts. Get their hearts open, and you can get the truth in.

Ways and Means, Part 2

Came across an interesting quotation that reminded me of my “Ways and Means” post. Its imagery was just too good to pass up. From George Eliot’s The Mill on the Floss: “He was often observed peeping through the bars of a gate and making minatory [menacing] gestures with his small forefinger while he scolded the sheep with an inarticulate burr, intended to strike terror into their astonished minds.”

Contrast this image with the image of another shepherd, this one from John’s gospel: “I am the good shepherd; and I know my sheep, and am known by My own….My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me…The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.”

Leading sheep–and especially Jesus’ sheep–does have some room for trial and error, but it is an informed trial and error in that it is based on whether we keep God’s commands. And the more errors we make in keeping God’s commands, the more we need to own up to them. That’s what God’s law was all about. People taking personal responsibility for the social crimes they perpetuated against each other, confessing them to the judge or priest, making restitution, and then not repeating their offenses.

God’s church has no room for leadership that thinks more highly of itself than it ought to think instead of with measures of sober judgment, according to the grace-gifts God has given. Concerning such shepherds, God says, “Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require My flock at their hand; I will cause them to cease feeding the sheep, and the shepherds shall feed themselves no more; for I will deliver My flock from their mouths, that they may no longer be food for them” (Ezekiel 34:10).

The standard-bearer for any and all ministerial leadership, lay or professional, is only the Good Shepherd. The more we imitate Him, the more we will lead like Him. But the more we imitate worldly, me-first, step-on-whoever-I-want-to-step-on-and-blame-my-errors-on-others- to-preserve-my-ego leadership philosophies, the farther away we will grow from the Good Shepherd, and the more difficult it will be to be effective in our places of service.

Think Thanks

St. Ignatius of Loyola taught that we can readily and accurately determine God’s guidance by asking ourselves a two-part question: For what moment am I most grateful? For what moment am I least grateful? The first question measures our level of spiritual consolation: the times we feel closest to God and the times we feel most connected to others. The second question measures our level of spiritual desolation: the times we feel farthest from God, and times we feel most disconnected with others. What happens when, upon reflecting on an experience, we come to realize that that experience caused more desolation than consolation? We need to cut that experience from our lives just as soon as we possibly can. What happens if the opposite is true, and our recent experience brought a greater sense of consolation to our lives and ministries? Then we need to repeat that experience just as often as we can.

The key to successfully and beneficially determining the Holy Spirit’s movement is to refrain from a superlative outlook on our lives and ministries. Don’t settle for the answer that you are grateful for everything and everyone in your life at all times and all places, with the same degree of extreme appreciation for each. If we want to absolutely and finally determine God’s guidance for our lives and ministries, the question we MUST answer is the moment for which we are MOST grateful, and moment for which we are LEAST grateful. This means we have to pick ONE moment. No ties, no second places.

If we have difficulty selecting a singular moment at the outset, that’s just part of the growing process of learning how to discern God’s movement. But if, after repeated reflection, we start seeing patterns of inability emerge, and we are continually least grateful for the same moment each week, then drastic measures must be taken to cut that experience out of our lives. Had I not done that with the first pastorate I obtained immediately following seminary graduation, I and my family would still be living in misery, doing what God has not called us to do. And had I not done that with planning events for student ministry in my current place of service, the student ministry would still be stuck in a rut on the path of quickening nonexistence.

Realizing, understanding, and staying open to the moments wherein the Holy Spirit moves mightily in our lives and ministries and then making every effort to continue in those moments is the key to keeping our lives and ministries fresh and flowing and in sync with the dynamic, adventurous, awesome, and perfect will of God.

Tomorrow Today

Here’s a point to ponder. Why is it that out of an entire well-trained, battle-seasoned army, the only person who had enough spiritual guts to stand up to a larger-than-life adversary was an ordinary, everyday teenager? Where were the adults? Cowering in the camp. Where was the king? Cowering in the camp. Where were the armor-bearers and sword-wielders and shield-handlers? Cowering in the camp. What did these veterans tell him to do? In effect, “Cower in the camp with us. You’re too young and too weak to do anything.” Hollywood truly couldn’t have written a more dramatic script. The teenager said to the adversary: “You come to me with a sword, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of Yahweh of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day Yahweh will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. Then all this assembly shall know that Yahweh does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is Yahweh’s, and He will give you into our hands.” How many of our teenagers have the spiritual maturity to take up David’s charge against Goliath? If our congregations don’t have it, I would suggest it is because our teenagers don’t have it. Past generations look to future generations for leadership. When the leadership of future generations is lacking, past generations hold on to the reins of future leadership more tightly. David honed his leadership and dependence on God by taking on leadership positions at a very early age so that when the time came to step forward and take the reins, his leadership was both welcomed and trusted. What would that principle look like in today’s church? Here’s a suggestion. Why not have a middle school committee composed of middle school students or a youth committee composed of high school students? And why not complement these committees with consistent, regular parent contact that fully involves parents in ministry planning? And once approved by parents, why not let students plan the events? That way they can take ownership of the youth ministry and destroy the “what’s in it for me?” consumer mindset that plagues so many of our churches. And if we do our job well as a church, by the time students become juniors or seniors, they should have a better, more concrete idea of how to lead God’s people in times of peace and times of war, and to know better what it means to accomplish God’s agenda for His church. A pipe dream? Some might say that. But it’s a dream that God calls us to dream, and act on with urgency.