Hearing the Truth

I recently finished Peter Lord's book, Hearing God.  His down-to-earth, humble style assures me that I too may hear the voice of God.  His practical suggestions for learning to hear the voice of God help me develop the habits needed for real communication with God.

For many of us, prayers are those letters we put in the mail, stamped with our time invested, which we hope and assume arrive in God's mailbox.  We never expect replies.  We just hope that something happens that looks like God may have had something to do with it.  Then our prayer is answered.  Or at least we claim that it is.  We have some evidence that God actually opened our prayer-letters, and that he actually did something about it.

But prayer really can be more like a conversation.  We limit the two-way communication by the way we approach prayer.  We cover our prayer lists without taking time to listen.  We never think of listening, because we so rarely ask God to speak.  We just ask him to do.  Why should we listen?

Peter Lord teaches on prayer at Crossroads in February 2012.

Peter Lord gave me a new idea for prayer.  When I face a puzzling situation, I can ask God to show me the truth about it.  I assume that I have all the information I need.  But I don't really know what motivates others.  I don't know for certain how or why things developed.  I need the truth.  I can ask God to reveal to me the truth behind someone's frustrating behavior, behind my sinful habits, behind the roadblocks to ministry.

Then I need to listen.

It takes time, patience, quiet, peace--all things in short supply today.  We have to nurture peace in our hearts and carve out time in our schedules.

When I hear the truth from God, I will probably be surprised.  I never understood it that way.  I never realized the key to that person's heart.  I never saw how my behavior contributed to the problem.  I never knew that my attitude made such a difference.

God will reveal these things, if I will listen.  Then I can repent, respond, or wait, in the power of the Holy Spirit, and Jesus has his way.

The Point of Worship

Yesterday in our worship celebration, one of our worship leaders asked the congregation, "Why do we worship?"  Someone responded, "Because it pleases him."

We need to understand the point of worship.  It is all directed at God.  He is the audience.  We are all performers for God's pleasure.  The worship leaders encourage the congregation to sing and surrender to God.

Think about cheerleaders at a football game.  Real fans don't go to a football game to see cheerleaders.  They go to see the game, to root for the team.  Cheerleaders just organize the cheers of the fans.  How strange it would be to have a stadium packed full of fans who watch quietly as two dozen young people shout, "Block that kick!"  The shouts would barely carry across the field.

So when we gather, we need to turn our attention to the One who is worthy.  We cheer for him.  We give praise to him.  We open our hearts to him together.  We are not the audience.  He is.

It pleases him.

The Hurry Curse

I recently read John Ortberg's book, Soul Keeping.  I had never read a book about how to keep my soul.  While Jesus makes a big deal about one's soul, we find very little about it in Christian literature.  Jesus did ask, "What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?  Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?"

It seems like we have plenty of help in keeping our habits, keeping our money, and keeping our doctrine pure.  But none of these has any value if we don't keep our souls.

I have a habit of hurried thinking.  My dad was that way.  He died 13 years ago, but he always seemed to be in a hurry.  Even in his years of retirement, he kept himself and his family poised for the next thing.  I remember rushing through meals and walking fast. He was an industrial engineer, so he was always looking for efficiency.  But efficiency must have a higher purpose.  Why do we want to do things faster?  For what are we saving time?  What is the value of moving on to the next hurried task?

I have inherited that mindset.  I hate the agony of time to relax, when I feel like I should be doing something.  Being productive makes me feel worthy.  If I am being still, I am unworthy.  That feels worse than being hurried.

Ortberg, calling on the late Dallas Willard, notes the difference between being busy and being hurried.  We can be busy, keeping a full schedule, without being hurried.  One can keep a long list of appointments without being hurried.  It is a mindset.

Hurry says that I'm in control, and that means trouble.  I work harder, get frenzied, and work poorly.  Busy (ideally) recognizes that God is in control, and that means everything is all right.  I trust God to take care of all my oversights and shortcomings.  Hurry is walking by sight.  Busy is walking by faith.

Many times a day now, I catch myself with the hurry mindset.  It steals my peace and limits the depth of my thinking.  It wears me out, and leaves me feeling guilty that I have not accomplished more.

But Jesus bids me come to him and find rest for my soul.  His yoke is easy and his burden is light. I can choose joy and peace as I handle my responsibilities.  Then my mind and soul are free to work.  That is living apart from the hurry curse.  Only through Jesus can I find that power through freedom.

Hurry keeps my soul ruffled.  Jesus gives me rest for my soul.

Creative Destruction

Boys like to watch things break.  And they like to do the breaking.  Maybe I should say "we."  In the male psyche there is this desire to smash pumpkins, break windows and set off firecrackers in carefully chosen artifacts.  Guy movies must feature chases and explosions.  Guys embrace danger, especially when destruction is a potential byproduct.

Paradoxically, deep in the heart of every man (and woman), is an innate desire to create.  Mankind was made in God's image, both male and female.  In the beginning, God created.  He made the heavens and the earth in six days.  As his image bearers, we are created to be creators.  We want to build furniture, cities and pyramids.  We want to construct arguments.  We want to bring beauty from blank canvas.  We want to bring ideas together in novels.

These two tendencies often pull at each other in the hearts of men.  How can they be harnessed for God?  If we direct our destructive powers toward those things which truly ought to be destroyed, we can engage destruction for the sake of creating.  I do not recommend shooting at speed limit signs or knocking over the obnoxious yard art in the neighborhood.  I'm thinking of destroying those strongholds that pull us away from Jesus.

Paul says, "The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world  On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.  We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ" (2 Cor. 10:4-5).

If we harness our destruction properly, we clear the way for creativity.  In this fallen world, there will always be plenty to destroy.  When we take out the evil, we allow the good flourish.  We become like our creator as we create.

I am now going to destroy some procrastination.

Personal Cancer Support

Last week I learned about the Barry L Joyce Cancer Support Fund in Madison,NC.  A friend of mine has been volunteering her time at the Fund's headquarters, and she kept inviting me to come see their facility. Now that I have seen the building, I'm finally getting the picture.

On Tuesday, I met Jennifer Joyce, who runs the operation.  Jennifer's father, Barry, passed away several years ago after fighting through cancer.  He was winning the battle against the disease when he had a fatal reaction to some chemicals used in a medical test.  To honor his memory, his family began the Cancer Fund. Their work reached a new level of effectiveness last November when they opened their community resource center on Ayersville Road.  Jennifer toured me around the re-purposed bank building, with its research library, reception area, kitchen, and inviting conversation room.

In this comfortable environment, cancer warriors can find the weapons they need.  Cancer patients, caregivers, family members and cancer survivors alike can find information, support and encouragement.  The research room offers books, periodicals and reference tools, as well as two computers for internet research.

The BLJ Center provides cancer patients a free notebook, containing a guide for the cancer journey.  This resource suggests questions to ask a doctor, lists possible diet changes, and includes places to record symptoms, medications and milestones.  It also includes contact information for local helping agencies.

The Center hosts support groups for survivors, the newly diagnosed, caregivers, and family members. They have yoga classes, aromatherapy seminars, massage therapy, free facials, and coaching to help patients find a "new normal."

In addition to all this encouragement and support, the Fund offers financial help for cancer patients who live in Rockingham County.  Battling cancer often creates financial hardships, and the Fund stands ready to provide assistance.

Jennifer has big plans for the Barry L Joyce Cancer Support Fund.  Rather than growing the current facility to huge proportions, she hopes to create a network of support centers in other rural communities around the region.

Please share the word that help is available in the fight against cancer.  You don't have to walk the path alone.

The Elusive Next Steps for Graduates

As a pastor and educator, I have noticed a trend among young men today.  They seem to endure their years of high school, dutifully grinding out the course work, only to graduate with no sense of direction.

I can't help but compare this generation with mine.  When I graduated in 1980, the paths after high school were clear.  One could go to college, or one could go to work.  I only remember a few of my classmates choosing to work straight out of high school.  Most went on to some kind of college.  But everyone could see the options for the next step.  I don't recall much hand wringing or confusion.

Now I certainly did not have a career chosen when I entered college.  I didn't even have a career chosen when I graduated from college.  But I had a confident sense of a next step.  After high school, I knew I was destined for college.  My parents told me so, long before I began kindergarten.  In some of my earliest memories I am putting nickels into a Hi-C can, saving for this thing called "college."  College was always my next step after high school.

After college, it was a little trickier.  I still did not not know what to do with my life, although I was interested in vocational ministry.  I considered going into banking or insurance, and interviewed with a few companies during my senior year.  Ultimately, I chose to hang around my college town for another year, working as an intern for my local church.  The low-paying internship experience would help me decide on a career path. Of course, the fact that my college girlfriend had another year of school might have slightly influenced my thinking.  I'm glad I stuck around, because we eventually got married.  After that year of ministry, I went on to graduate school.

Here's my point.  At each moment of transition, I saw some clear next steps.  After college, I could get a career-track job, a low-paying internship, or go to graduate school.   At no point did I ever feel completely at a loss.  I never made a definitive career choice until the end of my master's degree program, so I'm not saying that 20-somethings should have it all figured out.  I'm just saying that possible next steps were clear.

For today's students, graduation is an approaching waterfall.  It's coming, it's loud and scary, and it will be wet.  Beyond that, they have no idea what might happen.  Their next steps are about survival, not preparation.  Four-year college is no longer such an obvious choice.  There are more college-type options available today--community college, gap year schools, trade schools.  There are more internships available for 18-year-olds, with ministries and businesses.  Some graduates opt for two-year mission opportunities on other continents.

Next steps are not as clearly defined today, and it seems to hit our young men the hardest.  They feel pressure to choose a career and pursue it aggressively.  They are not ready to make such decisions, and so they seem to float in and out of school, in and out of minimum wage jobs.

Men in the church need to stand up and mentor these young men.  We need to enter their lives and help them seek God's direction for their careers.  We need to encourage them to take risks, and pursue opportunities of service, profit, and education.  We need to share our own struggles and regrets.

If we assume that young men will just figure it out on their own, we are missing a great opportunity to build relationships and shed light on productive next steps.  That would have been a great help to me, even in the day when the next steps were more obvious.

Imagine the spiritual power that will be released when this generation of young men pursues God's direction for their lives, confident that God's energy is flowing through them!

Hijacked by a Hootenanny

Spell check is the special feature that requires you to double check your typing.  I received a text from someone a few months ago, apparently describing accumulating ice in a parking lot.  It said, "Parking lit here has hootenanny awful in the last 20 minutes."  I still have no idea what word was intended.  It amazes me that  whatever the word was, spell check thought the writer meant "hootenanny."  Who uses that word in normal conversation, especially texting?

Then, when I want to wish someone Happy Birthday on Facebook, spell check always thinks I want to say "Jappy."  Why would I want to say that?  Shouldn't there be some outrage about such racist suggestions?

It is a risky thing to complete someone else's thoughts.  But we do it all the time.  As we listen, we tend to hear what we expect to hear.  We put our own hootenannies in the speaker's words.  We fail to listen, and then both parties wonder where communication broke down.

Listening is hard work.  Every day I catch myself failing to listen.  Then I try to reconstruct what the speaker must have been saying.  Whoa, that's dangerous.  I fill in the blanks with what the person must have said.  It's a wonder I can communicate with anybody.  There is no telling what ridiculous ideas I attribute to others.  I hope I'm not as bad as spell check.