“Love Will Be Our Anchor” by Gary Chapman

“Love Will Be Our Anchor”
by Gary Chapman, Michael Omartian, and Amy Grant

We said I love you with initials and an arrow
Hearts were carved, our lips touched
And the love we chose was on the straight and narrow
And love will be our anchor
We know the days will bring us things we’re not prepared for
Night will fall, love will call
And every morning we will wake up feeling cared for
And love will be our anchor

Life’s not easy
And it helps if you are lucky
Rain will fall on the good and the bad
I will give you
Everything that I am able
And love will be our anchor

And when you can’t believe the answers
To the simplest of questions
And your heart has grown cold
Love is still the rock of ages
And the rock will not be shaken
It’s an anchor to hold

And when the waves have tossed our lives in reckless motion
Wind has blown, we have grown
We will make it all the way across this ocean
And love will be our anchor

Life’s not easy
And it helps if you are lucky
Rain will fall on the good and the bad
I will give you
Everything that I am able
And love will be our anchor

And when you can’t believe the answers
To the simplest of questions
And your heart has grown cold
Love is still the rock of ages
And the rock will not be shaken
It’s an anchor to hold

We said I love you with initials and an arrow
Hearts were carved and our lips touched
And the love we chose was on the straight and narrow
And love will be our anchor
This love will be our anchor

Dear God, I have found myself singing this song this week. I guess I’ve been thinking about marriage for a bit, and I think it’s a good one. In fact, it occurred to me as some point that it would work well for an anniversary slideshow should I ever be tasked with putting one together for someone.

I guess I should clarify that this song was written at a time in Christian music when the song writers would substitute your name, God, with love. I think it was so it would have the potential to get crossover play on secular radio. “Love” plays anywhere. “God” does not. With that said, when I hear this song or sing this song, in my head, I’m singing, “God will be our anchor.” The problem with this is that “love” is used in the traditional sense in this song too, so it can be hard to remember that the anchor love represents you.

The lyrics start with the idealism of young love. Maybe even naive love. It’s easy to have a love that is straight and narrow when it’s young and unchallenged. When it’s fresh and exciting. But that’s just a season. Emotions fade. Selflessness and service are what remain.

I remember when my youth minister in high school got married and the pastor was teasing him from the pulpit about being a newlywed. “He thinks that marriage is exciting right now. Sex every night (yes, he said that in a Baptist church from the pulpit). But it won’t always be like that.” It’s true. It’s okay that it’s true. It’s nothing to be afraid of. But it’s true.

I heard someone say recently that choosing a mate isn’t about picking that person who excites you or turns you on the most. It’s about picking the person who will be good to go through life’s challenges with. That’s true too.

So back to the song. When life’s not easy and the rain falls. When the waves toss our lives in reckless motion. When night falls. Will we have built our foundation on you and relationship with each other. I remember being grateful as empty nest approached that my wife and I enjoy each other’s company. We work to serve each other in the little things. No, we aren’t perfect. Yes, we frustrate each other sometimes. But we also give the other the latitude to be who the other is. But you are our anchor–at least, as best as we know how to make you our anchor.

Holy Spirit, be with me today as I go through this day. Love my wife through me and give her what she needs through me. Be with the marriages that are on my heart. Be with those who are single and trying to find their way in the world. Forgive me for when I have failed you as your son-in-law. Forgive me for the times I fail your will for your daughter. Help us to model what you have for men and women to be as husband and wife as others such as our children, relatives, and friends look at us. Inspire others through us. And raise up people who will inspire us to be more as well.

I pray this, asking that you advocate for me to the Father through Jesus,

Amen

 

Ezra 3:10-13

¹⁰ When the builders completed the foundation of the Lord’s Temple, the priests put on their robes and took their places to blow their trumpets. And the Levites, descendants of Asaph, clashed their cymbals to praise the Lord, just as King David had prescribed. ¹¹ With praise and thanks, they sang this song to the Lord:

“He is so good!
    His faithful love for Israel endures forever!”

Then all the people gave a great shout, praising the Lord because the foundation of the Lord’s Temple had been laid.

¹² But many of the older priests, Levites, and other leaders who had seen the first Temple wept aloud when they saw the new Temple’s foundation. The others, however, were shouting for joy. ¹³ The joyful shouting and weeping mingled together in a loud noise that could be heard far in the distance.

Ezra 3:10-13

Dear God, this passage resonates with me today. I was listening to the Bible in a Year Podcast from Ascension Press this morning and this was one of the things Father Mike read. It took me back to five or six years ago when I was at a retreat at Laity Lodge. The leaders were talking about the rebuilding of the Temple, but he was telling the story from Haggai. One of the things Haggai told the builders was that this Temple would not be like the old one. It would be a new Temple. It might not be a grand and ostentatious as the first one, but it would be good and it would please you. At the time, things had really fallen apart for my family, and I felt your Holy Spirit say the same to me. You told me that I was obsessed with trying to go back and build the Temple in my life that I had ten years before. But that Temple was gone and destroyed. What I needed to do now was work with my wife to build a new Temple. To start over.

Over the years, that’s what we’ve tried to do, under your authority. And things are still not the perfect way we would want them. There are still deficiencies when I compare my life to the dreams I had for it. But the truth is, life is good. A couple of days ago, my wife and I were in our couples group from church and we were going around the circle and giving our “highs and lows” from the month since we last met. My wife said that just the enjoyment we are having in each other is a high for her. It’s one of the nicest and most affirming things I could have heard. Goodness knows I want to be everything you need me to be for her sake.

Father, Holy Spirit, there will come a day when the Temple my wife and I have currently build will take damage and maybe even be destroyed. I went to a funeral for a woman yesterday who left behind a husband of 55 years. That man is going to have to start building a new Temple. I came across some people over the last few days who lost children too young. They have new Temples to build. I have another friend who has seemingly averted getting a divorce, but now the long task of Temple building under your authority is ahead of them. I have another friend whose divorce will soon be final. He has a new Temple to build as well. So my prayer for these friends, for my wife, for me, for my children, and for the rest of my family is that we will go about building the Temples you have us to build. Temples that will glorify you and see your Kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Temples for our good, but also for your glory. Temples that will require us to be submitted to you and molded by you as we build them. Humble Temples that will point others to you and you alone as the God of the universe.

I pray this through the ultimate new Temple/Covenant, Jesus,

Amen

 

“Oh, My Soul” by Casting Crowns

“Oh, My Soul” by Casting Crowns

Oh, my soul
Oh, how you worry
Oh, how you’re weary, from fearing you lost control
This was the one thing, you didn’t see coming
And no one would blame you, though
If you cried in private
If you tried to hide it away, so no one knows
No one will see, if you stop believing

Oh, my soul
You are not alone
There’s a place where fear has to face the God you know
One more day, He will make a way
Let Him show you how, you can lay this down
‘Cause you’re not alone

Here and now
You can be honest
I won’t try to promise that someday it all works out
‘Cause this is the valley
And even now, He is breathing on your dry bones
And there will be dancing
There will be beauty where beauty was ash and stone
This much I know

Oh, my soul
You are not alone
There’s a place where fear has to face the God you know
One more day, He will make a way
Let Him show you how, you can lay this down

I’m not strong enough, I can’t take anymore
(You can lay it down, you can lay it down)
And my shipwrecked faith will never get me to shore
(You can lay it down, you can lay it down)
Can He find me here
Can He keep me from going under

Oh, my soul
You’re not alone
There’s a place where fear has to face the God you know
One more day, He will make a way
Let Him show you how, you can lay this down
‘Cause you’re not alone
Oh, my soul, you’re not alone

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Bernie Herms / John Mark Hall

Dear God, I’m still not sure what happened yesterday. Was it good? Did I do something wrong? Did I leave something crucial out? Or was it exactly what it was supposed to be? I taught a Sunday school class on Hezekiah and his desperation in praying before you. I used “He’s My Son” by Mark Schultz as an illustration of what pleading with you looks like. It’s a song I’ve certainly prayed. I’ve ugly-cried to that song. I ugly-cried yesterday. But playing that song yesterday ended up being a trigger for some of the people in the room. Some have had their children die. Some have children in prison. Some have seen their children go through horrific physical issues that resulted in them living but with significant remnants of the disease they will carry with them for the rest of their lives. Some have broken relationships with children.

I feel bad right now. Did I do the wrong thing? I know I just asked this, but it’s the question that is running around in my mind. If I were to be teaching the class next week I might continue with healing and leaning on you. What that looks like. What it doesn’t look like. One thing it doesn’t look like is just “being fine.” No, sometimes this is just going to hurt, and sometimes the hurt will never go away. Like I said yesterday, sometimes that anchor will be there, but you can use it to form us into something that we’d never have otherwise been.

The second verse of the song above is what is speaking to me this morning:

Here and now
You can be honest
I won’t try to promise that someday it all works out
‘Cause this is the valley
And even now, He is breathing on your dry bones
And there will be dancing
There will be beauty where beauty was ash and stone
This much I know

Yeah, this might never work out the way we want it to this side of heaven. But there is something you will eventually do for me. At the end of this physical life, you will breathe on my dry bones. There will be beauty made from ash and stone.

Holy Spirit, please be the comforter and counselor for each person in the class yesterday and those who were touched beyond the class. Forgive me if I missed something I should have said. Use the pain that happened yesterday for your good and the good of everyone in there. Use it as an opportunity to heal, call us to repentance, and teach us to lean into you a little harder.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 

“He’s My Son” by Mark Schultz

“He’s My Son” by Mark Schultz

Down on my knees again tonight
Hoping this prayer will turn out right
See there’s a boy that needs your help
I’ve done all that I can do myself

His mother is tired
I’m sure You can understand
Each night as he sleeps
She goes in and holds his hand
And she tries not to cry
As the tears fill her eyes

Can You hear me?
Am I getting through tonight?
Can You see him?
Can You make him feel alright?
If You can hear me
Let me take his place somehow
See he’s not just anyone
He’s My Son.

Sometimes late at night
I watch him sleep
I dream of the boy he’d like to be
I try to be strong and see him through
But God who he needs right now is You.

Let him grow old
Live life without this fear
What would I be
Living without him here?
He’s so tired and he’s so scared
Let him know that you’re there

Can You hear me?
Am I getting through tonight?
Can You see him?
Can You make him feel alright?
If You can hear me
Let me take his place somehow
See he’s not just anyone
He’s My Son.

Can You hear me?
Am I getting through tonight?
Can You see him?
Can You make him feel alright?
If You can hear me
Let me take his place somehow
See he’s not just anyone

Can You hear me?
Can You see him?

Please don’t leave him
He’s My Son

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Don Robey / George Hollis

Dear God, this song means a lot of complicated things to me. I’ve used it to pray for my own children. Not because they were physically ill, but because my wife and I were equally desperate for them.

As I sit here this morning, I am thinking about the hopes we have for our lives when we are young. “When I grow up I want to _____________________.” Answers can be “get married,” “have children,” “be rich,” “play professional sports,” or even “be an accountant.” Whatever it is, we all have our dreams. But then life gets in the way.

I have a niece who got married 18 months ago. In a letter I wrote her before her wedding, I encouraged her to plan more around facing life’s unexpected hurdles together than making her own plans about how life will turn out. My life, for example, overall has turned out pretty well, but there are clouds that hang over me. There are sorrows. I haven’t experienced the pain the parent in this song is experiencing, but I’ve certainly experienced considerable parental pain. I am still considering pain. I still have what feels like an anchor on me that is directing the way the ship of my life is moving. Yes, my ship might still be moving forward, but that anchor is dragging and impacting the course of my life. And I’ve prayed to you. I’ve prayed like the father in this song. I’ve prayed like Hezekiah in 2 Kings 19:14-19:

¹⁴ After Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it, he went up to the Lord’s Temple and spread it out before the Lord. ¹⁵ And Hezekiah prayed this prayer before the Lord: “O Lord, God of Israel, you are enthroned between the mighty cherubim! You alone are God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You alone created the heavens and the earth. ¹⁶ Bend down, O Lord, and listen! Open your eyes, O Lord, and see! Listen to Sennacherib’s words of defiance against the living God.

¹⁷ “It is true, Lord, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed all these nations. ¹⁸ And they have thrown the gods of these nations into the fire and burned them. But of course the Assyrians could destroy them! They were not gods at all—only idols of wood and stone shaped by human hands. ¹⁹ Now, O Lord our God, rescue us from his power; then all the kingdoms of the earth will know that you alone, O Lord, are God.”

And you’ve answered some of my prayers. Okay, you’ve answered all of my prayers, but some of your answers I’ve been able to see. My faith tells me you’ve answered the others as well. And sometimes you’re going to say, “No. No, I cannot answer the prayer the way you want it answered, but you have to trust me that I am doing things beyond what you can see or know.” That’s where the faith of Hebrews 11:1 comes in: Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

Holy Spirt, Jesus, Father God, please. I lay my heart before you like Hezekiah laid the letter from the Assyrians about before you. It feels hopeless. It is hopeless in my own power. I have no control over anyone or anything. But you can move the heart of Nebuchadezzar and use him for your purposes. You can certainly move my heart to be what you need me to be. You can move others as well. Please work all things for good. I’ve prayed this so many times. Even though I cannot see what you are doing, I pray that your kingdom will come and your will will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Hezekiah decided to ignore the practices of his father and submit himself to you. I’m sure he had dreams of what his kingdom would be like when he took over. How things would run. How his army would be tough. But his kingdom didn’t work out as he thought. Many of the cities of Judah fell under his watch. He paid a tribute to Assyria to get them to go away, but they didn’t go away. He was left with nothing but you. That’s where I am right now. I’m left with nothing but you. And my desires are very selfish. I’m not praying over an entire country. I’m simply praying over the people who mean the most in the world to me. But maybe that’s just as important to you as well. I guess I’ll end with this: I really do love you.

Thank you for allowing me to pray all of this to you through Jesus,

Amen

 

Good Morning, Holy Spirit

Dear God, I was meeting with local pastors last week, and one of them mentioned he has started trying to more intentionally acknowledging and engaging with the part of your essence that you sent to be with us after Jesus left, the Holy Spirit. How is it that this is the part of you that is with us now, filling your souls and hearts, and yet we seem to forget him? We talk to you. We talk to Jesus. We say that we are asking Jesus into our hearts. We say we are a dwelling place for Jesus. But is that scripturally accurate. Did the essence of you that is Jesus not return to you and send us the Holy Spirit? You know I’ve been thinking about this more as I pray. I’ve been including the Holy Spirit more in these prayers and I try to consciously shift my thinking towards this lesser-acknowledged part of the Trinity.

Holy Spirit, as you move through the earth today, I have some special requests. First, have free reign in me and work in my heart to make me the man you need me to be. Give me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Help me to repent where I am sinful. Help me to heal from my wounds and offer your healing to others.

Be with my wife today. Encourage her. Speak to her. Fill her. Love her. Use me in her life however you need to use me. Heal her wounds. Grant her the serenity to accept the things she cannot change, the courage to change the things she can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Give her whole relationships where they are broken.

For my friend separated from her husband, I pray that you would use this pain in their lives to draw each of them to you and build them up. Build them into your disciples. Reconcile them together. Use this. Use it as not only a healing opportunity in their own lives, but as an example to their children. They’ve recently hit a new low, but I pray that it might be a point of rebound for them. This is salvageable with humility, repentance, and hard work. Help them to do the hard work for your glory’s sake.

For my children. They are both finding their way through their lives. Holy Spirit, please be with them. Be with their significant others. Help them to feel your love. Help them to feel the freedom that comes with submission to you. Help them to know my wife and I love them. Use the path they are on for their good and your glory. Give them your presence, Holy Spirit, so they might exude your love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, faithfulness, kindness, gentleness, and self control.

For my friends who are mourning the loss of their spouses this week. For my friends and family who are ill–some gravely. For my friends who are living in scary situations. For my community that is hurting with anger and fear. Oh, Holy Spirit, move. Please move in all of these things. Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, please be God so that our community might be made whole under you. Give me wisdom in the special business meeting I have today. Help me to see each person in there with your eyes and to be more than an participant, but your ambassador.

I pray all of this through the right I have to be your child by the power of Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection,

Amen

 

“Oh, Lord, Your Love” by Caedmon’s Call

“Oh, Lord, Your Love” by Caedmon’s Call

Oh Lord I give you all I have
But it seems so little
When you have given me so much
I come to you with empty hands
And a heart that’s fragile
You come to me with a wealth of love

Oh Lord Your love
Is new with every morning
Your faithfulness
It gets me through the night
You bid me come
You know that I am weary
Your yoke is easy
Your burden is light

And now I sing you songs of praise
But your greatness is beyond me
I know I can not comprehend
How You, Ancient of Days
Stoop Yourself to call me
To be Your son
To be Your friend

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Fred Hammond / Joann Judith Rosario / Joseph Tyrone Woolfork / Noel Christopher Hall

Dear God, it’s one of those mornings when I just need to remember to praise. I’m just listening to this song and singing it in my heart while I type this. There’s a part of my heart that is aching this morning. I’m aching for a loved one going through a divorce. I’m aching for broken relationships in my life. I’m aching for problems and looming conflicts in my community. My heart aches this morning.

I am preparing to teach a Sunday school lesson about Hezekiah on Sunday. He ached too. He was afraid. He tore his clothes. And he had to lead others into apparent doom through his aching. What did he do to get through it? He went to the Temple, laid out his problems before you, and prayed.

Father, here I am this morning. I am giving you all I have, but it seems so little when you have given me so much. I come to you with empty hands and a heart that’s fragile. But you come to me with a wealth of love. Oh, Lord, your love is new with every morning. Your faithfulness gets me through the night. You bid me come. You know that I am weary. But your yoke is easy and your burden is light. And now I sing you songs of praise, but your greatness is beyond me. I know I cannot comprehend how you, Ancient of Days, stoop yourself to call me to be your son…to be your friend. Oh, Lord, your love is new with every morning. Your faithfulness gets me through the night. You bid me come. You know that I am weary. But your yoke is easy and your burden is light. Thank you.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 

10 Observations by Adam Neder: #10. The Church was never intended to rule.

I was reading an article from the H.E.B. Foundation Magazine Echoes this morning, and I came across a description of a summer retreat led by Adam Neder. The retreat was titled “Faith in the Ruins.” A description of the retreat in the promotional material for it sums it up: “…as challenges multiply, as the church perfects the art of discrediting itself, as friends leave the faith, many Christians are feeling exhausted, disoriented, and discouraged. Some wonder how much longer they can stick with Christianity–or even if they want to.”

That’s where the 10 observations by Neder came in. I looked at them and thought I would do a series of prayer journals on the 10 observations the article mentioned Neder covered during the retreat.

#10. The Church was never intended to rule.

Dear God, this is an interesting one for me. I’m not sure to what extent I agree with it at first blush. I almost feel like I need to strip away my preconceived notions of government and political power and think about what you intended from the beginning.

I heard someone ask in the last year, “What is the form of government that the Bible endorses?” My first temptation is to say autocratic rule with a king because it is the most common. But when I think about 1 Samuel 8 and the Israelites angering you by asking for a king I have to reconsider. Before Abraham, there were just men and their families. Adam. Noah. Job. You didn’t have a nation. Even with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, they were just heads of families. Not much government there. It wasn’t until the Israelites came out of the Egyptian incubator in which you had them for several hundred years that they were a true nation in need of political structure to function. At the top of that structure you had Moses, but he wasn’t their king. There was nothing about him that was kingly. He was their judge. He was a leader, to be sure. But he was almost a high priest, judge, ruler combo. Then came Joshua who largely worked in the same manner. This pattern continued in a hit and miss, informal way up through Samuel. There was not a clear plan of succession from one judge to the next. Other than children working in the temple and as judges (I’m looking at you Eli and Samuel), I don’t really see a lineage passed down from generation to generation. It was a loose organization that didn’t seem too stable. But it pleased you a lot more than a kingdom of men did.

So where does that leave us now in the United States? It’s complicated. Belief in you was very predominant at the time so that, even though they wanted to have a non-religious government, you were so ubiquitous in people’s lives that belief in you couldn’t help but be woven into the fabric of the document. At the same time, there are those now who would say the document was divinely inspired–putting it, I suppose, on the same level as scripture. However, if it is divinely inspired then what do I do with the parts that are evil such as condoning slavery or the 3/5 Compromise? Why 17 amendments after the first 10 that were part of a compromise? No, it’s a good document and I believe you used it, flaws and all, to do your will through our country, but I don’t think I can consider it divinely inspired.

But going back to Neder’s observation, I think I’ll agree because the judge system was to lead others into worshipping you, but not mandate it. There’s a difference. I had a friend recently send me a news story about how self-professed Christians are shrinking as a percentage in American society. Down from 90% saying they believed in you in the 1990s to about 65% saying they believe in you now. The alarmist headline was that Christians will be the minority religion by 2045. I replied to the friend that if you count people who are actually discipling Christians, worshipping and building a regular relationship with you, and not just self-professed Christians then we are already the minority. I also asked how he thinks people reading it on Fox News will respond to the article. For those it will alarm, there are, I suppose two main responses: 1. The liberals are taking over and we need to get control of this and make people believe in God again or 2. We have been failing our society and we need to repent, pray about what we’ve done wrong and then move forward modeling ourselves after Jesus and his disciples. The first group would see the Church as being the intended ruler of society. The second sees the Church as needing to lead hurting people to you.

Father, I have to be better. I have to be better at leading people to you. Those close to me and those not. I am sorry. I am sorry I fail out of fear and apathy. I am sorry I fail because I simply don’t care sometimes. I don’t take the pain of others seriously enough. I don’t love like I should love. I don’t lead them to you like I should lead. I don’t worship you like I should worship. I don’t pray like I should pray. I am sorry. As I look at that news story, I definitely find myself in the second camp. Help me to live out what you are calling me to do and bless the work of my hands for the sake of your children and your glory.

I pray this through the power of everything Jesus is,

Amen

 

10 Observations by Adam Neder: #9. Being a savvy consumer makes it harder to find a Church.

I was reading an article from the H.E.B. Foundation Magazine Echoes, and I came across a description of a summer retreat led by Adam Neder. The retreat was titled “Faith in the Ruins.” A description of the retreat in the promotional material for it sums it up: “…as challenges multiply, as the church perfects the art of discrediting itself, as friends leave the faith, many Christians are feeling exhausted, disoriented, and discouraged. Some wonder how much longer they can stick with Christianity–or even if they want to.”

That’s where the 10 observations by Neder came in. I looked at them and thought I would do a series of prayer journals on the 10 observations the article mentioned Neder covered during the retreat.

#9. Being a savvy consumer makes it harder to find a Church.

Dear God, I cannot tell if Neder is saying this is a good thing or a bad thing. Is he a proponent of being picky about your church or is he being critical? I’m not sure. So instead of basing what I say on what I think his opinion is, I want to just react to this statement on its own.

I’m going to take the position that this is a negative and we should not try to be a “savvy consumer” when it comes to church. In fact, I think one of the problems with the current church is that we see ourselves as the “consumer” or the “customer.” We think the pastor and staff are there to serve what we expect of them. In other words, I expect them to deliver the sermons, children’s programs, adult Sunday school, etc. that I like. But what if??? What if you intend for the church, in my life, to make me holy more than to make me happy? What if you designed it to be a place for me to offer myself as your living sacrifice? What if you have made it my job to love the pastor as I love myself? And the staff? What if my job on Sunday is to be concerned more with the people for whom you have me there than the people I think are there for me? Yes, there are times when I need to receive, but those times are far fewer than the times I need to give.

I heard a pastor yesterday tell a story about a disenchanted group of people in his church who sent their spokesperson to his office to confront him. There was a lot of judgment in their words to him. They had talked and gotten themselves into a frenzy and now they had taken it upon themselves to do what they perceived to be your bidding. The thing it seems they were missing was love. Compassion. Concern.

I was in a church about 12 years ago that went through a terrible split over a vocal minority who were not exhibiting your love. Well, it wasn’t as much of a split as the pastor, a gentle soul, got reassigned, sweet and good families found another place to worship because of the strife and fallout from the conflicts, and that group eventually ended up moving on anyway.

So back to selecting a church. What if I totally changed how I selected a church? What if I walked into a building and asked myself, “Does this place have needs that I can uniquely fill with what I bring to the body?” Instead of, “How do I like her or his preaching?” “Is the Sunday school good?” “Do they have a good enough youth group and/or children’s program?” “Are they serving the community enough?” What if I simply asked, “Can this place use me?” And not in a spirit of me coming in and “fixing” the church, but me coming alongside and loving others through my service. Maybe a church isn’t that hard to find when I have a different attitude towards my selection criteria.

Father, Holy Spirit, help me to be an encouragement to my friends who are pastors. Help me to be a servant at the church where you have planted me. Help me to be a source of love. Help me to be a channel of your grace. Use me. And help me to do it by exuding you–by exuding your Holy Spirit. By exuding love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, faithfulness, goodness, kindness, and self control (I might have missed one or two there, but you know what I mean). In short, love the world through my life, and let the flame of your love spread to others, starting with me.

I pray this through the gift of Jesus being my Lord,

Amen

 

10 Observations by Adam Neder: #8. The Church’s credibility can only be harmed by the Church.

I was reading an article from the H.E.B. Foundation Magazine Echoes, and I came across a description of a summer retreat led by Adam Neder. The retreat was titled “Faith in the Ruins.” A description of the retreat in the promotional material for it sums it up: “…as challenges multiply, as the church perfects the art of discrediting itself, as friends leave the faith, many Christians are feeling exhausted, disoriented, and discouraged. Some wonder how much longer they can stick with Christianity–or even if they want to.”

That’s where the 10 observations by Neder came in. I looked at them and thought I would do a series of prayer journals on the 10 observations the article mentioned Neder covered during the retreat.

#8. The Church’s credibility can only be harmed by the Church.

Dear God, what does a credible Church (capital C) or church (small c) look like? It’s probably easier to start with the small-c church and go from there.

I think a church with credibility starts with love. Loving others. While I think the Mormon church has a lot of theological problems that prevent me from worshipping you with them, I think they are excellent in their credibility. They do the work. They love. They visit. They follow up. They worship you. They serve. As a Church, they also seem to have a decent attitude towards political issues. For example, I was talking about the negotiable and non-negotiable things a few days ago and how most of the Church has made the negotiable things non-negotiable (healthcare, environment, etc.) and the non-negotiable things negotiable (personal discipleship, fruits of the Spirit, etc.). I think the Mormon church does this right. When I was in Utah a year ago, I noticed the Mormon church and the overall Utah society (which is predominantly Mormon) involved in things like easy and free COVID testing and touting environmental programs. They were also taking a stand on the issue of transgender men competing with biological women in athletic events and working against it. But they were doing it with credibility behind them.

Of course, small-c church is made up of individuals who need to have personal credibility. I cannot overlook that. I mentioned a couple of days ago the man who was great on Sunday but completely worldly Monday through Saturday. His lack of credibility reflected not only on his small-c church, but the capital-C Church as well.

So when people see churched individuals failing to meet your standards it impacts the church and the Church. If I talk to my coworkers about you but have no credibility, they will not only be turned off and offended by me, but they will likely think less of the local church and the global Church as well.

Father, Holy Spirit, I suppose that Neder’s observation is correct, but it’s also correct in most areas. People out there can try to tear me down, and it might be easier to do that effectively to an individual, but if there is credibility among a large swath of people who are part of a group, whether it is a religion, a political party, a nation, or even a service organization like Rotary, then it is harder to disparage it. But all of it starts with us as individuals. So help me. Help me to be exactly who you need me to be today so that your will might be done and your kingdom might come into the earth.

I pray this through the power of Jesus,

Amen

 

10 Observations by Adam Neder: #7. Theological credibility is inseparable from credibility in other areas.

I was reading an article from the H.E.B. Foundation Magazine Echoes, and I came across a description of a summer retreat led by Adam Neder. The retreat was titled “Faith in the Ruins.” A description of the retreat in the promotional material for it sums it up: “…as challenges multiply, as the church perfects the art of discrediting itself, as friends leave the faith, many Christians are feeling exhausted, disoriented, and discouraged. Some wonder how much longer they can stick with Christianity–or even if they want to.”

That’s where the 10 observations by Neder came in. I looked at them and thought I would do a series of prayer journals on the 10 observations the article mentioned Neder covered during the retreat.

#7. Theological credibility is inseparable from credibility in other areas.

Dear God, theological credibility is an interesting thing because, frankly, I question my own theology a lot. I don’t trust it. I trust you more than I trust what I think about you or think I know about you. I’ve been listening to a podcast by a Catholic priest who is going through the Bible over the course of the year, reading it cover to cover, including the apocrypha. I agree with most of what he says, but there are times when I don’t. Does that mean he doesn’t have theological credibility with me? Or that I don’t have theological credibility with him? My point is, I think we need to be careful with out much dogma we attach to our own theology because, to a great extent, you and your ways are unknowable to us.

With that said, what gives me credibility with people? Honestly, I think it’s humility. I think it’s being willing to admit mistakes and/or failures. I knew a man who ended up in federal prison in his 20s and then state prison in his 40s. I remember talking to my son about him when my son was young and telling him that this man’s problem was that, when the chips were down, instead of just admitting failure, cutting bait and taking his lumps, he looked for shortcuts that could help him save face and survive. The irony is that the shortcuts ended up being crimes against others that landed him in a worse place than if he had just told the truth.

Credibility starts, I think, with just being genuine. No hidden agendas. No malice. No threats of withholding love, friendship or respect if you don’t agree with me. Come to think of it, I guess it starts with loving others as I love myself–maybe even more.

Father, Holy Spirit, I guess I’ll end with this–and maybe this is where Neder was coming from with his observation. Any credibility I have in sharing my faith in you ends as soon as hypocrisy enters the equation. I see news people do it all of the time–on both sides. I knew a man who was amazing at church, but when people from church would work for him in his business they were floored by how awful he was from Monday through Saturday. His personal conduct killed any theological credibility he might have had. So help me to guard against hypocrisy. Help me to not be a pit of vipers. Help me to love. Help me to offer empathy and patience. That doesn’t mean I should accept any behavior, but, well, help me to see with your eyes and then be your words and actions in this world. Help me to live what I actually believe and let my words reflect what I actually believe. And where my theology is wrong, please correct me.

I pray all of this through the power of you son, Jesus, through whom I am able to be here,

Amen