April 19th Prayer read by Pastor Chad @ WCC

Thou God of all grace,

Thou has given me a Savior, produce in me a faith to live by Him,

to make him all my desire, all my hope, all my glory.

May I enter Him as my refuge,

build on Him as my foundation,

walk in Him as my way,

follow Him as my guide,

conform to Him as my example,

receive His instructions as my prophet,

rely on His intercession as my high priest,

obey Him as my King.

May I never be ashamed of Him or His words,

but joyfully bear His reproach,

never displease Him by unholy or imprudent conduct,

never count it a glory if I take it patiently when buffeted for a fault,

never make the multitude my model,

never delay when thy Word invites me to advance.

May thy dear Son preserve me from this present evil world,

so that its smiles never allure,

nor its frowns terrify,

nor its vices defile,

nor errors delude me.

May I feel that I am a stranger and a pilgrim on earth,

declaring plainly that I seek a country,

my title to it becoming more perfect,

my foretastes of it more abundant;

and whatsoever I do may it be done in the Saviour's Name.

(taken from Valley of Vision - a collection of Puritan prayers and devotions, edited by Arthur Bennett, 1975, p44)

The Second Coming

Can He Shed Some For Me?

Valentines Day weekend we had a wonderful time of worship at our West Cabarrus Church's "Love For A Savior" evening service. One of the elements of the service was communion.

When the juice came around, Chase eyeballed it pretty intently. He asked Ashlie what it was for. She explained, as much as you can to a 3 year-old, that it was to remind us of the blood that Jesus shed for us on the cross. He stood pensively for a moment or two...looked at her with his pacific ocean blue eyes, and said, "Do you you think He could shed some for me?"

Ashlie, trying to discern whether Chase was comprehending Christ' love and his need for a relationship, was about to engage him and see what exactly he meant. Before she could get there he said, "...so I can have some of that juice?" We knew he was thirsty, but not quite ready (or accountable) for living water, yet.

Kids say the best things! (The old "camp-meeting" preacher in me, wanted to 'throw a songbook' and shout "Glory" as I pondered the real answer to Chase's first question - He Already Has!...though millions have come, there's still room for 1.)

Grace in a pinch...

I keep finding out more and more things about myself as I look in the mirror of His Word and live this thing called life.  I was reminded yesterday in a session on Grasping the Word of God that until we meditate on His Word (this particular definition from Joshua 1:8-9 is explicit of the marriage between meditation and action - "that you might do all that is written") we're probably more in the hearers camp than in the doers camp.

In recent days, I've been writing and reading quite a bit about Humilty.  So here's my failure of doing from yesterday.  I call them Lightning Rod discussions.  I was with some peers, but the discussion quickly turned into a pigeonholing debate and I allowed myself to become a bit defensive (hot and bothered) on some "lightning rod" topics (sign gifts, women in ministry, etc. ... you know somebody's going to lose this discussion whether or not they're correct).  

It didn't get ugly; no one's feelings were hurt.  It was an OK exchange of ideas without a sense of dogmatic blows.  But I'm still not sure I handled it correctly.  

I never want to discourage anyone in ministry.  My publicist, though might have revealed that I cared a bit more about clarifying my side so that I wasn't misunderstood (I felt like that alot in this exchange), than I did about displaying and depositing grace into someone's life...in a pinch.

I left that exchange yesterday wishing, for a moment, that I could've better articulated my position to make my case.  But then I remembered the many people I've been around (not these two from yesterday) that always seem to have an answer - not for the hope that they have in Jesus, but for the reason they're right and you're wrong on lightning rod issues that divide.  They might include obscure texts where there's only 1-2 scholars to back up their view, but they're so well versed in the apologetics of their non-Jesus stuff, you'd think they were going before kings to defend it.

(I keep learning about what I thought I knew, what I didn't know, and what I'm confident I know.  These last 2-3 years have been somewhat of a theological pilgrimage for my wife and I for which we are grateful.  We are still settling in to our better understanding on the truth that the Word of God trumps experiential spiritual navigation, no matter how authentic the experience seems.  We are thankful for the amazing work and person of the Holy Spirit, filling us, illuminating His text and actively leading us to Jesus in all things.)

At the end of the day, though these lightning rod things matter and the Bible does speak to them, if I can't navigate it with grace, I shouldn't miss the opportunity to keep my mouth shut.