A Good Story

One thing about the evangelical community is we love a good story. Heck, I love a good Kingdom story and hope to share a lot more of them here in this blog. I wish I could tell a lot of sensational stories week after week about how the heavens open up day after day and angels come and meet me as I pray, but it just wouldn’t be true.

The truth is I sit in my chair a couple of times day, and I struggle to stay present and open to God, and maybe for a few brief seconds, if I’m lucky, I know in my heart that I am in the loving presence of God. Most of the time not much happens as I pray that I am all that conscious of. The only thing I have to go on is my wife and my friends noticing that I have changed a little; that I seem to be a little more at peace, and a little happier. I have also noticed that I handle situations differently. Situations that caused me a lot of stress, or anger in the past, don’t seem to get to me as much as they used to, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Contemplative prayer has taught me to not buy the religious guilt trip any more. Whether it be over social justice, experiences of the Holy Spirit, reading my Bible more, evangelism, etc. Do miracles happen in my life, is it important to read my Bible, feed the poor, and tell others about the love of God? Yes, and in one way or the other I have been involved, or hope to be involved in all of these things in the future. Do I see evidence, and experience the Holy Spirit in my life? All the time, but I no longer cling to these experiences, and then tell other people they need to do this or that to be whole, or accepted by God. WE ARE ALL ACCEPTED AND LOVED BY GOD - PERIOD.

Prayer teaches me to let go of everything, including experience and religious guilt trips, and simply love God for who he is rather than what he can do for me. God loves me just as I am – weeds and wheat. Amazing kingdom stuff is going to happen, and is happening, but not because I force it to happen out of guilt and shame. It’s going to happen because God loves this broken world and he wants to share that love through me to whoever is open to it at any God ordained time.

I am “in the river” and good and bad stuff is happening all of the time, just like it did in the life of Jesus. Prayer teaches me how to handle it all more like him.

learning to pray: Let go of any religious guilt or shame.

How Great Thou Art

learning to pray: On your next walk, hike, or boating trip take the words for the hymn "How Great Thou Art" with you. Here's a sample that spoke to me recently as I was standing at the base of mountain in the midst of a beautiful garden at the Cedar Springs Retreat Center in Sumas, Washington:

When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.
When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur
And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.


Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.

For the lyrics to the entire song go to: http://www.the-synergy.com/lyrics/howgrt.html Turn the volume up!!! (Just kidding).

Time Off

I'm taking the next week and half off to study for my real estate exam (please pray for me!), so I won't be submitting anything new for a while. If you have anything to contribute in the meantime that has to do with learning to pray, please make a comment below. Take Care!

Let your love, GOD, shape my life with salvation, exactly as you promised. Psalm 119:41

Your love, GOD, fills the earth!
Train me to live by your counsel. Psalm 119:64

Truth from your mouth means more to me
than striking it rich in a gold mine. Psalm 119:72

Summer Camp

A shout out to all the people who work with kids at Summer Camps and VBS’s this summer. May God be with you and bless you in all that you do.

PLEASE!!! - Let’s pray for the people who take the time to work with kids and teenagers this summer.

My wife and I went down to our favorite camp in the Northwest - Camp Firwood - last night to visit our kids, and friends, and see them in action as they led worship and did their jobs as counselors. Some of the teenage workers gave their testimonies, and on the way home I was reminded of the time when I heard the current camp director get chocked up at a camp alumni event when he began to speak of the pain in the lives of the kids he serves throughout the summer. I heard it and saw the pain first hand last night – and these were the Christian kids who were on staff! I can’t even imagine what some of the camper's stories must be.

Anyway – I want to BLESS all of you workers out there who are sharing the love of Christ with our kids this summer. In my opinion, you are on the most important mission field in the world when you serve, and love our children. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

From 24-7: Report From Germany

Ralf Neumann and some of his friends are scheming to move back to the down-trodden area of eastern Germany that saw them grow up. They want to found a monastic community that will bring reconciliation, friendship, creativity and practical aid to those in need. They are daring to dream that they can be part of the solution in an area that is rife with depression, suicide and growing Neo-Nazism. Read More...

Communion at 6000 Feet

We had been climbing for hours with little breaks here and there to enjoy the amazing scenery. Little did we know that our guides had a surprise for us. We were up so high we were at the tree line, and there was only one small bunch of trees left before the mountain continued to rise up into the sky. Our guides had us sit and wait while they went and set something up behind this last group of small trees. What was going on?

Unbeknownst to us one of the guides had carried up a large silver cross in his backpack, some bread, and some wine. Inside of the last cleft of trees at this height he was setting up a communion table on a flat log. One at a time the five of us went into this natural sanctuary made of ancient trees, ate the bread, sipped from the cup and remembered the One who loved us enough to die for us. One at a time we came out...rocked by the Holy Spirit!

Forgiveness and the incredible mercy of God was the essence of that weekend hiking trip for me. I went on the trip full of guilt and shame, and thanks to our guides, and the mercy of God I returned home feeling refreshed, cleansed, and accepted by God. I love the outdoors. That weekend I was blown away by the views of the beautiful valleys, mountains, lakes and streams, but I actually came home even more blown away by how great God is, and that he loved the world so much that he came to earth, died and rose again, to forgive sinners like me.

learning to pray: take communion, be grateful and rest in the knowledge that you are forgiven.

Walking With God in the Midst of Hell

There’s an interesting book out by a lady named Etty Hillesum. Etty was a Jewish person living in Holland during World War II. She would eventually die in Auschwitz on November 30, 1943. The book contains her diaries and letters that she wrote in the years and months just prior to her death. If you are thinking of reading this book, be aware that Etty describes her love life in quite a bit of detail. She even has an abortion at one point. Nevertheless, she had a beautiful relationship with God and depth of inner piece that few of us ever experience.

One quote that I like in particular is the following one, written a year or so before she received her orders to go to a concentration camp. Some of her friends have left already for camps, and food and travel are heavily restricted at this point:

But sometimes I feel as though a layer of ashes was being sprinkled over my heart, as if my face were withering and decaying before my eyes, and as if everything were falling apart in front of me and my heart were letting everything go. But these are brief moments; then everything falls back into place, my head clears again, and I can once more bear and stand up to this piece of history that is ours. For once you begin to walk with God, you need only keep on walking with Him and all of life becomes one long stroll – such a marvelous feeling.

learning to pray: No matter what your circumstances, no matter what you have done, the peace of God is available to you right now. Simply "begin to walk with God" and "keep on walking with Him."

"Etty Hellisum: An Interrupted Life and Letters From Westerbrook"