Lenten Devotional for Wednesday February 29 2012

Scripture Reading: And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour? Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” –Matthew 26:40-41

In a recent reading of the Gospel according to Matthew, I was moved and convicted by the passage where Christ, in preparation for his death, takes his disciples go to Gethsemane so He can pray and seek the Lord. Three times he asks his disciples to keep watch and pray and three times they fall asleep. This made me think, “how often am I ‘falling asleep’ rather than keeping watch (preparing) for the upcoming celebration of Christ’s death and resurrection?” Far too often, that is for sure.

Over the years I have participated in the tradition of giving up things for Lent or attempting to form good habits while ridding myself of bad ones. All too often I fail in my goal before Easter arrives, or find myself simply reverting back to my old ways or gorging myself on the item I gave up once Lent is over. Why? Because rather than using the time as it was intended – to draw near to the Lord and rely on His strength to sustain me – I was simply participating in the tradition and relying on my own will to get me through the days of fasting and preparation. By leaning on my own will (flesh) rather than relying on the Holy Spirit through my observation of the season, I was being lulled to sleep by temptations and things of this world rather than keeping watch for my Savior.

Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Hebrews 7:25 (NIV)

Christ lives to make intercession for us. So, just as he prayed in the garden the week that he would be handed over to death, Jesus is alive today and lives to speak to the Father about us. Are we keeping watch or are we being tempted to sleep?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, help us in this Lenten season to draw near to you and rely on you alone for our source of strength. Help us to keep watch and not be lulled to sleep by the things of this world. Although the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak, so just as your word says you live to make intercession for us, let us live to be sustained by you and your Holy Spirit. Amen

Lenten Devotional for Tuesday February 28 2012

Scripture Reading: The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers' houses, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.

“Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. And you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt. Exodus 12:1-13 (ESV)

Devotional: The account of the Passover with which Israel begins its exit out of Egypt and slavery is in many ways the central story of the Old Testament. It is meant to speak profoundly to God’s people. On the one hand, it is a reminder that unless God intervenes and covers us, we are in the same condition as everyone else: part of a rebel creation that stands under God’s judgment and condemnation. That is always part of our identity as human beings and without it we cannot walk in humility either before God or others.

On the other hand, it is a reminder that the primary thing God wants from us is trust. He wants us to trust that he is merciful and that he cares for us. He wants us to trust that he desires to save and not condemn us. That is why he became incarnate in the person of Jesus. And he wants our lives to issue in the acts of obedience that manifest our trust in him – whether that is putting blood on our doorposts and eating the Passover meal as was the case for the Israelites – or remembering Jesus’s death which saved us when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper and then living lives of forgiveness and generosity. Is your life being characterized by this kind of humility and trust? If not, why not?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, grant me to so deeply feel my need for your mercy and to know your provision of it that humility and obedient trust might be profoundly manifest in my life. Amen

Lenten Devotional for Monday February 27, 2012

Scripture Reading: And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour? Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Matthew 26:40-41 (NASB)

In a recent reading of the Gospel according to Matthew, I was moved and convicted by the passage where Christ, in preparation for his death, takes his disciples go to Gethsemane so He can pray and seek the Lord. Three times he asks his disciples to keep watch and pray and three times they fall asleep. This made me think, “how often am I ‘falling asleep’ rather than keeping watch (preparing) for the upcoming celebration of Christ’s death and resurrection?” Far too often, that is for sure.

Over the years I have participated in the tradition of giving up things for Lent or attempting to form good habits while ridding myself of bad ones. All too often I fail in my goal before Easter arrives, or find myself simply reverting back to my old ways or gorging myself on the item I gave up once Lent is over. Why? Because rather than using the time as it was intended – to draw near to the Lord and rely on His strength to sustain me – I was simply participating in the tradition and relying on my own will to get me through the days of fasting and preparation. By leaning on my own will (flesh) rather than relying on the Holy Spirit through my observation of the season, I was being lulled to sleep by temptations and things of this world rather than keeping watch for my Savior.

Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Hebrews 7:25 (NIV)

Christ lives to make intercession for us. So, just as he prayed in the garden the week that he would be handed over to death, Jesus is alive today and lives to speak to the Father about us. Are we keeping watch or are we being tempted to sleep?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, help us in this Lenten season to draw near to you and rely on you alone for our source of strength. Help us to keep watch and not be lulled to sleep by the things of this world. Although the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak, so just as your word says you live to make intercession for us, let us live to be sustained by you and your Holy Spirit. Amen.

Developing a Missional Mindset

Today my message at NRN is about developing a Missional Mindset. To simply my message I have a clip and a short movie to enhance the message. You can listen to the message on our website - but here are the videos as promised.

Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20 (NLT)

Jesus has given to us the great commission – (not the great suggestion). What does it mean to be Missional? What is a Missional church?




“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.” Luke 4:18-19 (NLT)

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:13-16

Change for a dollar:




Shouldn’t personal holiness help bring about community health and restoration?

Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. "If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
Isaiah 58:9-12 (NIV)

Lenten Devotional for Saturday February 25 2012

Saturday February 25, 2012

We have fallen into the temptation of separating ministry from spirituality, service from prayer. Our demon says: "We are too busy to pray; we have too many needs to attend to, too many people to respond to, too many wounds to heal..." But to think this way is harmful...Service and prayer can never be separated; they are related to each other as the Yin and Yang of the Japanese Circle. --Henri J.M. Nouwen

What is true for each of us is too often true of the church itself. Consecrating a new cathedral in Africa, Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury, said:

Many years ago I lived in a town where there was a very active church indeed. Outside this church was an enormous noticeboard. It must have been about 6 ft sq. It seemed every moment of the week was taken up in activity. But I've no doubt indeed it was a very good church and very careful and loving parish. And yet that noticeboard used to worry me and it still does. It seems to me it speaks of an idea of the church which supposes that the church is about human beings doing things. When you looked at that church you would have thought, what a lot of things they do there. But I'm still wondering if anyone ever asked, does God do things here? It seemed to be just a slight risk that there was hardly any room in the week for God to find his way in among all these activities.

We are busy, each of us, and together we all of us are doing various things in our various congregations, but all of that holy activity, church busyness and business, may carry and keep us far from the Holy One. If we are not careful, we will be like Martha in the kitchen--doing so many things for Jesus, so we suppose, that we do not have time to be with Jesus. We will not be alert to what Jesus is already at work doing for, in and among us--and we may wind up estranged from our brothers and sisters.

In Lent we purpose to come out of the kitchen and sit at the feet of Jesus. We set ourselves space-making disciples in order that, as the book of Joel says, the nations will not ask of us, "Where is their God?" (2:17).

Where is their God? Are they people of faith or just people of activity? Do they believe in grace or, in spite of what they say, do they really believe in salvation only by work? Where is their God? They surely are busy, but where is their God?

Reflect

How much of your church time is spent "in the kitchen"? Consider how you might take your place at the feet of Jesus this Lent.

Lenten Devotional for Friday February 24.2012

Friday, February 24, 2012

Scripture Reading: May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. - Romans 15:13

Thirteen years ago—April 20th, 1999, to be exact—a 17 year old named Cassie, crouched under a desk in her high school library. An armed assailant entered the library, and seeing her, stooped beneath the desk where the girl hid to ask one simple question: “Do you believe in God?” The girl paused for but a second before replying, “Yes, I believe”. These three words were the last she would ever speak. This girl’s name was Cassie Bernall, and she was one of 12 students killed by fellow students at Columbine High School.

It seems so easy to get caught up in the hectic schedule of school or work obligations, to focus on the balance of time spent with friends or family and time fulfilling day-to-day duties. We so often fall into the trap of basking in the goodness of life that we fail to remember and give thanks to the giver of all good things. Sometimes, it’s not until we feel our world shaken that we become aware of the distractions we have allowed to fill His place. Sometimes, it’s not until we’ve fallen on our faces with life’s hardships that we remember where we should have gone all along: to our knees. Place your hope and joy in things of this world—school, work, success, friends—and you’ll be let down every time. Place your hope and joy in the Lord, believe in His love and the peace He offers unconditionally to all of us, and, as Cassie so courageously demonstrated, not even the fear of death can take away that strength.

Prayer: Loving Father, guide and grant us strength as we navigate the exultations and tribulations we must constantly face in this life. Be with us, and let us never forget to turn to you in both the good and the bad. May we always remember it is in you that our ultimate hope and joy must lie, and may we never fail to accept the ceaseless love and peace which only you can offer. Amen.

Lenten Devotional for February 23

Into the Wilderness

Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7
Romans 5:12-19
Psalm 32

Matthew 4:1-11

Focus: The Shadow of Temptation

We have fallen into the temptation of separating ministry from spirituality, service from prayer. Our demon says: "We are too busy to pray; we have too many needs to attend to, too many people to respond to, too many wounds to heal..." But to think this way is harmful...Service and prayer can never be separated; they are related to each other as the Yin and Yang of the Japanese Circle.
--Henri J.M. Nouwen

The water of Jesus' baptism is still dripping off his chin, and the voice of God still echoes in his ears--"This is my Son, the Beloved; with whom I am well pleased"--when suddenly, at once, immediately, the Spirit launches Jesus, heaves him, catapult-like, out into the wilderness.

Only a moment before, the Spirit has appeared as a dove; now the Spirit is a cutting horse, separating Jesus from everything and everybody that would hinder the moment. Away from the river, away from the crowds, away from city and town, away from Temple and synagogue, away from family and friends, away from everything except the scorpions and scruff grass--now it is just Jesus and the Tempter.

Every year we begin the season of Lent by recalling the temptations of Jesus alone in the wilderness. Why alone? Because alone, away from the distractions, Jesus faced his temptations. That is where the real work begins, for him and for us.

Sometimes we vainly imagine our problem is in the muddle, the mess, the noise and busyness of a day. Too many voices, too many demands--that is what's keeping us from the kind of life we believe we would live if we had more time and quiet. If we could just get everything and everybody else settled, then we would be settled: we would have time for prayer, for service. We could be the kind of Christians we intended to be when first we made our vows.

Except the problem may be more inside than outside. I too blame my lack of faithfulness on external forces, but if I purpose to be alone, I will be forced to confess a deeper truth: it is not just that I have other stuff to do but that I find things to do. I create busyness if it is not already there.

We are so practiced in the daily maze, so at home in the briar patch, that unbusyness is the real puzzle and thorn. How do we do nothing? Or if not nothing, then create space enough for prayer? This mostly unacknowledged spiritual dilemma is both unconfessed and, more gravely, devoutly unassaulted.

Reflect

If you are resistant to being alone, try to imagine why. Pray that when you are alone during Lent, whether by choice or circumstance, you will use that time for spiritual discernment.

Source: Shadows Darkness and Dawn: A Lenten Journey with Jesus by Thomas R. Steagald

Lenten Devotional 2012 - Ash Wednesday

Joel 2:1-2, 12-17
Psalm 51
2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

If somebody comes to me and says, "Teach me to pray," I say, "Be at this church at nine o'clock on Sunday morning." That's where you learn to pray. Of course, prayer is continued and has alternate forms when you are by yourself. But the American experience has the order reversed. In the long history of Christian spirituality, community prayer is most important, then individual prayer.
--Eugene Peterson

I am made of dust. I know because I love dusty things. When I was a boy, I played with dirt. Now that I am an old man, I pray with ashes.

I was conceived in the darkness. I know because I have always loved dark places. Even now I am too often content in the lightless little hut of my soul.

But I also know this: I was gestated in the life-giving water of my mother's womb. I know because I thirst for the water, the living water that will bathe me, that will wash all my dust and dirt and darkness away. I long to be made clean and I dread it too, for I have been dangerously exposed to the world's idolatrous radiations. Rough brushes and hoses are required, hard scrubbing, to peel away the poison. There are deep impurities in the ore of my soul, mined as I have been from the broken earth. I desperately need the Refiner's fire, God's purifying heat, to burn the carbons out of my spirit...

...The sanctuary is dark as a womb, silent as a grave. Candles chase the gloom, but shadows threaten to swallow the few who are gathered. The pastor prays:
Almighty God, you have created us out of the dust of the earth. Grant that these ashes may be to us a sign of our mortality and penitence, so that we may remember that only by your gracious gift are we given everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

On Ash Wednesday, at the pastor's invitation, I come to the rail and, in sure and certain hope of healing, I acknowledge my brokenness. I confess the darkness, at least as much of it as I can see, in hopes that light will soon dawn. In sure and certain hope of the Resurrection I embrace the Cross.

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust," the pastor says, smudging my forehead with a cross of palm ash. Particles fall onto my eyelashes. "Repent, and believe the gospel."

If I did not believe, I could not repent. If I could not repent, I could not go on. But already the ash itches. I think to reach up, to wipe it off, but kneeling here I am determined to let the cross, the ashes, do their full work. I will not try to remove them. I will try not to lay down the cross...

...Embracing the cross is hard; bearing it is harder still. The cross's beams are rough to the touch and burdensome. We never get all the splinters out. The cross is awkward to maneuver through the house and the office, and many days almost seems to work against whoever would carry it. The cross chafes the shoulders, bends the neck--and breaks the heart. No wonder that I want to lay it aside, throw it down, unburden myself of the cross and its demands. Easier to lay aside the weight of the cross than to "lay aside [my] every weight and the sin that clings so closely" (Heb. 12:1).

But choosing the cross means life; choosing life without it means death. Only by entering the darkness can I begin to find the light...

We make vows today, pledge small dyings in hope of greater, holier living, but we do not make them in order to be seen by others. We "sacrifice," not because God requires it, but because we desire the kind of deep intimacy only empty spaces can begin to harbor. Indeed, God has "no delight in sacrifice" (Ps. 51:16), which means to say that God does not love us more when we make sincere offerings, any more than God loves us less when we don't, or when our gestures remain silly or superficial. But when we confess our need for God, our desire for more of God in more of us, when we create for God a space in our heart and routine--"the sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit" (Ps. 51:17)--then God, I believe, is very pleased indeed...

...We pray to be emptied, that we might be filled. We pray to be enhungered, that we might be nourished on that which abides. We pray to die to self, that we might live with God at last.

Reflect

Take time to write down your Lenten vow: something you will deny yourself as a kind of sacrifice; something you will take on as a kind of service. You might put that paper in your Bible, or take it with you to Ash Wednesday services and leave it at the altar.

Excerpt from: Shadows Darkness and Dawn: A Lenten Journey with Jesus
by Thomas R. Steagald

A powerful story you should see

Over the past few weeks I have been preparing to post on my blog. Time and time again I prepare a post and find myself distracted from posting. I started the year with a resolve to post more in 2012 but have failed with that resolve. As I type these words I sence a renewed resolve to begin to post again. Lenten Season is upon us and I plan to post often about what this time of the year means to me.

I was moved by a recent video clip that came my way. I felt I had to share it with you. This is a powerful story of a Satanist who plotted to kill Pastor Craig Groeschel and instead finds new life in Christ.

Practical Thought: Watch this video and share your thoughts on this story. How does this video change your perspective on reaching the lost?