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Radical: A Book Review
When a book has the word “radical” in the title, you can expect to be challenged. When a book is entitled Radical
6 Ways to Redeem Your Commute Time
Ephesians 5:15-16 says, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” Making the most of our time is essential for us these days. We are so busy, flitting from here to there, church, work, school, PTA, clubs, sports, and on the list goes.
Through all of this, we spend a lot of time alone in our cars. That time can be wasted or it can be invested. Here are 6 ways to invest and redeem your commute time. [Read more…] about 6 Ways to Redeem Your Commute Time
The 1st Key for Dealing with Marital Strife
I was mad at my wife a few weeks ago. The reason why is unimportant. I felt like she had wronged me. That happens in marriage some times. Because of this, I was starting to get into resentment and bitterness. The more I resented her and became embittered, the more reasons I could think of to resent her and be embittered. The more things I thought of that made me mad at her, the more my own sins seemed attractive. In fact, I was entitled to them.
Fortunately, by the grace of God, I have some friends I turn to for accountability. [Read more…] about The 1st Key for Dealing with Marital Strife
4 Servants Fell in a Pit: A Parable
I have to share a story I heard from my brother-in-law, Nathan Williams.
4 Servants Fell in a Pit
Four servants were walking through a field one day, when a sinkhole gave way and they fell into a deep pit.
As they came to their senses and assessed their situation, they began to confer about what to do. The first servant began to think about his hard life, his nagging wife, his pestering children. He thought about all the work he would have to do if he got out of that pit. He decided that he kind of liked it down there. He curled up by the dirt wall, pulled a rock under his head, and went to sleep.
The other three continued conferring.
The second servant began to think about what a great master he had. He knew the master would come looking for them and save them. He knew that since the master would take care of them, he could just sit there and wait. He leaned against the wall of the hole and waited.
The other two kept conferring.
The third servant looked at the wall of the pit and said. “We can do this. All we have to do is dig out some hand holds, grab hold of rocks and roots. I think we can dig and climb our way out of here. If nothing else, I think we can dig at these walls and build a ramp to get out.” This servant started digging and working hard.
The fourth servant new that was just impossible. The pit was too deep, the dirt too loose. They would never climb or dig their way out of that pit. All that would accomplish was pulling more dirt down on top of them. So he began to holler. “Master, Master. Save us. We are stuck in this hole. We can’t get out. Save us.”
A few moments later a rope was let down into the hole. The master said, “Grab the rope and I will pull you up.” The fourth servant, seeing his salvation, grabbed the rope and was pulled to safety.
The master flung the rope down again and said to the third servant, “Stop digging. Grab the rope and I’ll save you.” But the third servant said, “No, Master. Watch and see. I can dig and climb my way out of this pit. When I’m done, you’ll see what a wonderful and hard working servant I am. You’ll be so proud of me.”
The master spoke to the second servant. “Take the rope and I’ll save you.” But the second servant said, “No. You must not be my master. My master would just save me from this hole and ask nothing of me. I’ll wait here for my master.”
The master roused the first servant from his slumber and said, “Take the rope and I’ll save you.” But the first servant said, “Save me? Save me from what? I’m comfortable down here. No one expects much of me down here. No one is nagging me down here. The dirt is soft and comfortable. Even this rock for a pillow is not so bad. I am getting a little hungry, but I think that pain is worth it. I’ll just stay here. Your rope may be good for others, but I don’t need saving.” He went back to sleep.
To this day, the rope dangles in the hole waiting for those servants to trust their master’s strength to save them. There was much weeping in the master’s house for the three who remained in the pit. But there was also much rejoicing for the one servant who had been saved by the master.
Which servant are you?
How do Christians mirror these servants? You can add your input by clicking here?
5 Ways to Improve Your Prayer Life
If there is one thing consistent among almost every Christian I have ever talked to, preached to, studied with, no matter what level of maturity, no matter how long we’ve been a Christian, most of us think we need to do better at prayer. Either by praying more, praying longer, praying deeper. I say “almost every Christian” because I did poll one congregation during a sermon and one brother raised his hand to say his prayer life was good enough. But I think my polling now ranks in the thousands. One in thousands is not too inspiring.* So, what can we do to improve our prayers lives? I’d like to share 5 things that have improved my prayer life. I hope they may help you as well.
#1: Schedule an appointment with God.
Don’t just intend to pray. Schedule it. Mark it in your day-planner. Put it on the calendar. If you wanted to meet with your boss, you’d schedule it. If you wanted to go on a date, you’d schedule it. When you want to meet with God, schedule it. When someone asks you to have coffee during that time, politely explain you already have an appointment with someone far more important.
#2: Have a place of prayer.
Obviously you can pray anywhere at anytime. I encourage you to pray everywhere. But I have also found that having a place dedicated to my specific and purposeful prayer time has been very powerful. Why? When I have a place dedicated to praying, every time I even pass by it, I start thinking about prayer. Sometimes it prompts prayer even when I wasn’t planning it.
(As an aside, don’t make your place of prayer your bed or easy chair. One complaint I’ve often heard among those who pray is, “I want to pray more, better, longer, but every time I start praying, I fall asleep.” I ask, “Where are you praying?” The response, “Oh, in bed.” I agree with many who say, “What better way to fall asleep.” However, I also agree with those who say, “If you feel asleep every time you talked to me, I’d start to get offended.” I have a place dedicated for sleep. I try not to confuse the issue by also making that my place dedicated to prayer.)
#3: Pray out loud.
This may sound odd, but it has helped me tremendously. Obviously, there are times praying out loud isn’t appropriate. When you are in that staff meeting and your boss is getting on your last nerve, you probably shouldn’t pray out loud, “Dear God, help me deal with this man.” But, pray out loud sometimes and see if it doesn’t help. It helps me because when I’m praying my mind can tend to wander. When I’m praying in my head, it is often hard to tell when I’m praying and when I’m just thinking. When I pray out loud, I can always tell. I’m praying when I’m making noise, I’m just thinking when I’m not. By the way, it is great to spend some time thinking while we pray. So even when you pray out loud, don’t be worried about times of silence. Take some time to think about what you are praying, but then pray it out loud.
#4: Make lists.
One of the most helpful tools I’ve developed is my “prayer Moleskine.” In it, I have lists of prayers from the Bible and other sources that I love to repeat. I have lists of praise prayers from the psalms that help me praise God. I have lists for thanksgiving, special requests, evangelists I know, churches I’ve been to, family, friends, granted requests. With these lists all in one place, I don’t have any trouble praying more and longer. In fact, the big trouble is now I have so much to pray for that I struggle finding the time.
#5: Plan your praying.
Now that I have so much to pray for, I’ve learned to plan my praying. This is different from scheduling. Scheduling was setting a time to pray. Planning means figuring out what to pray when. You don’t have to pray for everything on your lists every day. Rather, plan to pray for certain things on each day. For instance, Sunday is my praise and thanksgiving day. While I do some of that every day, Sunday is specifically for that purpose. Monday is my day to pray for evangelism and evangelists. Tuesday is my day to pray for my family and friends. And so on. Obviously, this is not hard and fast. I have some issues going on in my extended family that I pray for every day right now. These are just general guidelines that help me.
I’m always looking for other things to help me pray better, deeper, to connect more meaningfully with God. What practical tools or concepts have helped improve your prayer life? You can add your input by clicking here.
*By the way, I’m not too worried that almost all Christians think they need to improve in prayer. I’m far more concerned about the spiritual status of the one brother who said his prayer life was good enough than I am about the thousands who claim they wanted to do better. We all need to grow always.
The #1 Reason a Congregation Needs Unity
The Jerusalem church grew like wildfire. No doubt, the quickly developing relationships within that local body helped promote the rapid and sustained growth. According to Acts 4:32, the “full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul…” Unity produced stability. Stability produced growth. If we want to grow like Jerusalem, we need unity. But why?
(If you landed on this post without seeing the others in this series, let me explain what is going on here. Right now, when I write about God’s Way for Our Congregations, I’m in the middle of a series on the Jerusalem church and it’s success. This is the 14th post in the series. I know, I know, that’s awfully long, but there is a lot to learn from the Jerusalem church. I encourage you to check out the introduction to this series to know more about what is going on and to find an index of the posts in this series as they are put up. Enjoy.)
Why is Unity So Important?
Philippians 1:27-2:11, provides a great outlook on why unity is necessary and how to achieve it. Today, we’ll start with why unity is necessary.
Philippians 1:29-30 demonstrates that unity within the congregation is necessary because when we venture into the world, we are going to suffer. Satan can’t stand that we have dedicated our lives to Jesus Christ. He is doing anything and everything in his power to get us to separate from Jesus. One of the easiest ways to accomplish that is to separate us from Jesus’ family. If we are isolated, disconnected, unassociated, we are easy pickings. The mountain lion doesn’t attack the gazelle in the middle of the herd. He looks for the one that is separated and disconnected.
Because of our suffering, we need connection to people who understand where we’ve been and where we are. We need people to rely on. We need a safe haven of friends to uplift us. For a good example of that, look again at Jerusalem. In Acts 4:1-31, Peter and John had been taken prisoner for healing a man. (Imagine that! “Um, yes sir, we have to arrest you for healing that man. We can’t have any unauthorized healings going on around here.”) When they had been threatened and released, where did they go? They went to their friends. What did they do? They prayed. When Peter and John suffered, they had friends they could turn to for help and rely on for powerful encouragement. They had a unified group of believers who would help them turn to the only place they could get true strength and courage.
Why Is Disunity Such a Problem?
I don’t want to simply provide you with an unhealthy dose of guilt. However, I can’t think about this without wondering why there are so many churches that aren’t unified. Sadly, I think the problem is so few of us (myself included sometimes) let the gospel so affect us that either Satan or the world sees us as a threat. Therefore, they let us pass through without any notice. Because they aren’t attacking us, we don’t need a safe haven. Therefore it becomes too easy for us to turn in on ourselves and become the backbiters and devourers against which Paul warned in Galatians 5:15.
I’m not saying we should go out and pick fights with non-Christians or Satan. I’m just suggesting that when we let the gospel radically affect us, suffering will increase. When that happens, we will learn why we need unity in the body. Then we’ll understand why it helped Jerusalem so much.
In my next post, I’ll talk more about how to achieve unity. What are your thoughts? How can a church achieve this kind of unity? To add your input, click here.