P.S.P.S. (Prayer, Service, Persuasion, Suffering)

Dear God, I was listening to an interview between Andy Stanley and John Dickson last summer and that the 40-minute mark Stanley asks Dickson about a quote in his book about how the early church strove to emulate Jesus. Dickson then said that Jesus used four tools and four tools only to influence his world–Prayer, Service, Persuasion, and Suffering–and that is all he left us as well. I didn’t want to lose that concept so I memorized the acronym P.S.P.S. Obviously, it has stuck with me.

So, it’s been about nine months since I first heard that interview. How am I doing?

• Prayer: I think I am doing well with my quality time with you, but I don’t do nearly enough in intercessory prayer, either for individuals or societal/world issues that should have my prayer cover. I’m sorry for that. I need to come up with a better system for intercessory prayer. My wife is very good at that. I am not.
• Service: I have actually worked different service things into my life. I could always do more, but I do have some things outside of my work, which is inherently service-oriented, that help me directly touch lives that might need my input.
• Persuasion: This one is always tricky. I think my life directly influences a lot of people around me. And I think I am able to use that to get people to consider you more. But do I do enough?
• Suffering: I really don’t have anything here. I mean, yes, I have some sorrows in my life. Some broken relationships. And at least one of them has at least some linkage to my faith. But for the most part, I don’t know what suffering is. Is this a problem? Is no suffering a sign that I’m not putting myself out there enough? Persuading enough? Serving enough? Praying enough?

One interesting thing I noticed as I did this list is that doing all of these things isn’t only good for the world around me, but it is good for me as well. If I pray more–good for me. If I serve more–good for me. If I persuade more–good for me. If I suffer more–good for me. All of these things, even suffering, will help refine me into being more and more Jesus-like.

Father, help me to be mindful of this today. Help me to love you well. Help me to find time to pray for others and your world. Help me to jump into service. Help me to be bold and loving in my persuasion. And help me to not resist or avoid suffering if it means doing something you called me to do.

I offer all of this to you in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 

God and the Planet of Vicious Dogs

Dear God, I heard this sermon illustration at a Christmas service last night by the new pastor at First Baptist Church in our town, Bill Waddell, and I wanted to write about it this morning. I Googled it this morning to see if I could find a source and I couldn’t so I’m going to tell it again here as best as I can:

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A man had a dream one night, and he met God in his dream. He had been wondering about the incarnation and how it worked. “Why, God, did you have to come to earth as a man?”

God didn’t explain, but decided to show him why instead. He took the and they started traveling through space. Faster and faster until they started to approach a planet. When they arrived at the planet, still outside of its atmosphere, God stopped to tell the man about the planet. “This planet is controlled by dogs,” God said. “They are the highest life form here. The problem is, they are vicious dogs. They are cruel and mean. They destroy each other. They are filled with anger. But somehow, I want to help them. I want to teach them to love. I want them to know I exist and be in relationship with me. I want to show them how I love them. I want to help them take that love and give it to each other.”

The man replied, “That’s wonderful, Father. How will you do that?” 

“That’s where you come in,” God said. “I need you to do something for me. The only way to communicate with them is to become one of them. So I need you to go down there as a dog, tell them about me, and teach them through your example.” 

The man readily agreed. “Of course, I will do that for you and for them,” he said.

“There is a catch,” God added. “You won’t be able to teach them through coercion. That never works. You will need to come from a position of physical weakness to teach them what I need them to understand. They won’t learn if they are physically intimidated by you. So I am sending you as a chihuahua..” 

This caught the man off guard, but he saw the wisdom in it.

“There is another catch,” God continued. “In order to show them my power, you will have to die and let them kill you. Then, I will bring you back to life. This will show that you are truly my messenger and they should listen to you. It will be painful, but it is the only way. I cannot stand their viciousness with each other. I cannot be around it. So I need your perfect life to be a sacrifice for their sins, so that I will have a way to interact with them.”

Now the man was dreading this assignment for the first time, but he was willing to do anything God asked of him. He agreed to God’s terms.

But God wasn’t finished. “There is one more thing. When you are resurrected, you will remain a chihuahua for eternity. You will come to me and be with me, but you will be the chihuahua at my side. I am not a dog. I cannot relate to being a dog. But after you are a dog, I will need you to remain a dog so that you can continue to be my intermediary with them.”

It was then that the man fully understood what the incarnation of Jesus was all about, but instead of sending another sinful creature to be that intermediary, God was forced to send part of himself to earth. He was the only one capable of fulfilling this mission. This reconciliation with humans on earth. They are vicious, selfish, and cruel. But God loves us and wants to know him and live the lives of love and joy he has for us. So he sent a part of himself to teach us and sacrifice for us. To love us. To teach us about himself and what his love looks like. And to establish a way of being in relationship with us.

Father, thank you for this moment last night. Thank you for the whole service. It was lovely to see so many people come out on a drippy, cold December evening to begin to feel your presence here at Christmastime. Help me to carry this vision of you through the day. This vision of your passion and longing for us. Thank you for the incarnation through Mary. Thank you for Joseph and his willingness to be part of the plan. Thank you for everyone who sacrificed so I might be here this morning. Thank you for loving us dogs so much that you would send your only son to live an impoverished life, teach us, die, and then rise again. Thank you for what the idea of Christmas launched into the world.

I pray all of this through this same Jesus,

Amen

 

Genesis 12:10-16

¹⁰ At that time a severe famine struck the land of Canaan, forcing Abram to go down to Egypt, where he lived as a foreigner. ¹¹ As he was approaching the border of Egypt, Abram said to his wife, Sarai, “Look, you are a very beautiful woman. ¹² When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife. Let’s kill him; then we can have her!’ ¹³ So please tell them you are my sister. Then they will spare my life and treat me well because of their interest in you.”

¹⁴ And sure enough, when Abram arrived in Egypt, everyone noticed Sarai’s beauty. ¹⁵ When the palace officials saw her, they sang her praises to Pharaoh, their king, and Sarai was taken into his palace. ¹⁶ Then Pharaoh gave Abram many gifts because of her—sheep, goats, cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.

Genesis 12:10-16

Dear God, this is such a hard story if we stop and spend time with it. It’s easy to kind of read past, but it’s a hard story. First, you have Sarai being offered as a sacrifice by Abram so that his life might be saved. In a relationship where Abram should be her protector, he made her his protector. I cannot imagine what this must have been like for her from a trauma standpoint. It’s tragic.

Then there are the male and female servants that had no agency in the situation. They were given in exchange for this one woman to go to Pharoah. Later we will learn about an Egyptian servant of Abram’s named Hagar. Could this be how she came to be in their possession? All of this so that a man could save his own life at the expense of others.

So instead of me sitting here wondering about how Abram could possibly do this and judging him for it, I need to ask myself if I do this with my wife and children in any way. Have I put my own selfishness above them? I think at least one of my children would accuse me of putting my marriage to their mother before them. I’ve thought about it a lot, and I don’t think I agree, but it’s certainly how they feel. Is there any truth to it? Do I do anything to leave my wife vulnerable and at-risk? Am I the husband you need me to be for her? That she feels like is there to meet the needs she has for love, security, and encouragement?

Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, I really want to carry you into this day with me. Walk with me with my staff. Walk with me with our volunteer. Walk with me with our donors. Walk with me with our patients. Walk with me with my wife. Oh, Lord, walk with me today. Make me the man you need me to be.

I pray this through Jesus’s name, life, death, and resurrection,

Amen

 

Mary

Dear God, someone called yesterday and asked that I teach a Sunday school lesson for their class at the Methodist church. It’s an interesting thing to be just a layman, non-Catholic attending Catholic church with my wife and asked to teach a Sunday school class at a Methodist church. I’m honored to be asked. But I definitely need to spend some time in prayer about this. As I’ve thought about this over the last 24 hours, I kind of came to the idea that I might want to focus on Mary’s (mother of Jesus) Easter nearly 2,000 years ago. Her journey as we know it from the New Testament started with her visit from an angel and ended with her being with the apostles after Jesus’s ascension. There are other stories about Mary, but I’m going to just stick with what we know through the New Testament.

The thing that comes to mind when I think of Mary is what I think of when I think of any parent in the Bible–really any parent in general: We have no idea how things will work out for our child(ren) or how you will be involved in their lives. In fact, as I write this my wife is watching Everything, Everywhere, all at Once with a friend in our living room. That movie is about a woman not understanding why her own life turned out the way it did and struggling with her relationships in all directions–father, husband, and daughter.

It makes me think about my own life. I can remember so vividly holding my children when they were born. Not knowing how their lives would turn out. Not having any idea how or if they would have a relationship with you. Not understanding, really, how to be what they needed. Nearly 27 years later, and I still feel that way. I have no idea what you’re up to in their lives or in mine.

Father, be with me as I spend the next week with Mary. Help me to hear your voice. Prepare my words for this group of people who might need to hear something a little different in the Easter story. Something that will bring them peace. Bring me healing through this process as well.

I pray this in gratitude for everything you do for me,

Amen

 

Judas

Dear God, I was listening to the Catholic Bible in a Year podcast from Ascension Press by Father Mike Schmitz recently when he was reading from 1 Maccabees. As a Protestant Christian, it was my first time to hear any of the stories. While I was listening, something occurred to me. Judas Maccabeus was a Jewish military hero less than 200 years before Jesus was born. There were two of Jesus’s 12 disciples who were named Judas. I don’t remember reading the name Judas in the Old Testament other than Judas Maccabeus. Is it possible that Judas was a common name to give boys during this era in Israel? Finally–and this one is a big leap–could Judas Iscariot have been wanting to live up to his namesake and frustrated by this fact even more that Jesus didn’t seem to care about Rome’s rule over Israel?

After that, I decided to see who else in the New Testament was named Judas. Just how common was this?

• Judas Iscariot (we all know him)
• Judas (not Iscariot): John 14:22
• Judas, Jesus’s brother: Mark 6:3
• Judas, called Barsabbas: Acts 15:22 [I wonder if he changed his name because of Judas Iscariot]
• Jude (author of Jude)–some debate if this might be a duplicate–Jesus’s brother
• Judas of Galilee: Acts 5:37–rebel leader

Yeah, I think this naming your kid Judas might have been a thing at the time. Of course, that went away over time. Judas Iscariot has become as abhorrent in Christian circles as Benedict Arnold or Adolf Hitler have become in our modern times. I don’t know how many people in Germany currently name their son Adolf, but I would be surprised if it was many.

Father, I don’t know what is in this story for me, but it’s interesting to stop and think about how little decisions, like what to name our child, might impact their lives. I have a few things happening today. Help me as I prepare to go through this day. Let your Holy Spirit go with me. Go with me to work. Let there be healing. Go with me to Rotary. Go with me to San Antonio tonight. Go with me as we strive to bring you glory for all that you do in our lives. Help me to be part of you bringing your kingdom and will being done into the world.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 

“Give Me Revelation” by Third Day

“Give me Revelation” by Third Day

My life has led me down the road that’s so uncertain
And now, I am left alone and I am broken
Trying to find my way
Trying to find the faith that’s gone

This time I know that You are holding all the answers
And I’m tired of losing hope and taking chances
On roads that never seem
To be the ones that bring me home

Give me a revelation
Show me what to do
‘Cause I’ve been trying
To find my way
I haven’t got a clue

Tell me should I stay here
Or do I need to move?
Give me a revelation
I’ve got nothing without You
I’ve got nothing without You

My life has led me down this path that’s ever winding
Through every twist and turn, I’m always finding
That I am lost again
Tell me when this road will ever end

Give me a revelation
Show me what to do
‘Cause I’ve been trying
To find my way
I haven’t got a clue

Tell me should I stay here
Or do I need to move?
Give me a revelation
I’ve got nothing without You
I’ve got nothing without

I don’t know where I can turn
Tell me, when will I learn?
Won’t You show me where I need to go?
Let me follow Your lead
I know that it’s the only way that I can get back home

Give me a revelation
Show me what to do
‘Cause I’ve been trying
To find my way
I haven’t got a clue

Tell me should I stay here
Or do I need to move?
Give me a revelation
I’ve got nothing without You
I’ve got nothing without You

No, oh no, oh no
Oh, give me a revelation
Oh Lord, oh no
I’ve got nothing, now, without You
I’ve got nothing, now, without You

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: David Carr / Mark Lee / Tai Anderson / Johnny Powell / Brad Avery

Dear God, I need some revelation this morning. I needed it yesterday. I’ll need it tomorrow.

Yesterday, I prayed about not getting my branches pulled from your vine. I asked the Holy Spirit to show me when I started to let things of the world disquiet my spirit. I’m glad I did because things ended up happening that definitely disquieted by spirit.

Yesterday, I saw some good people who were in pain. Their only goal in life is to help children and their families, but there is a group of watchdogs in the community who are justifying their existence through their activism and what I think they consider to be righteous anger.

Today, I have some decisions to make. It’s time for me to act. What am I to do? This is where I need your revelation. Show me what to do. I’m trying to find my way. I know I shouldn’t stay here and that I need to move (not geographically move, but taking action instead of blithely standing by). I need to seek out your Holy Spirit and your still, small voice as I work on this issue. I need to seek out Godly counsel. I need wisdom from my wife. I need to know what to do and how to do it. And I need the strength to go through the fallout I will experience from my actions.

Father, I mean this prayer as deeply as I can mean it. Please grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. Give me the courage to change the things I can, and show me how to act in that change. And please grant me the wisdom to know the difference between what you are calling me to do and not calling me to do. Holy Spirit, whisper in my ear. Speak to me through wise counsel. And please show your love to those I see as causing harm. If they are wrong and I am right then please reveal yourself to them through whatever means you need. If I am wrong then reveal yourself to me. In the likely event we are both a little wrong and a little right, please work to unite us. And don’t let this pain be wasted. Make it count. Finally, for the damaged and abused people I saw yesterday and everyone like them that they represent, please minister to them. Love them. Encourage them. Be God to them. Holy Spirit, use this pain in their lives as well. Don’t let it be wasted. Refine us all for your glory.

I pray this through the love of Jesus,

Amen

 

“The Dance” by Garth Brooks

“The Dance” by Garth Brooks

Looking back on the memory of
The dance we shared ‘neath the stars above
For a moment all the world was right
How could I have known that you’d ever say goodbye

And now I’m glad I didn’t know
The way it all would end, the way it all would go
Our lives are better left to chance
I could have missed the pain
But I’d have had to miss the dance

Holding you, I held everything
For a moment wasn’t I the king
If I’d only known how the king would fall
Hey, who’s to say, you know I might have changed it all

And now I’m glad I didn’t know
The way it all would end, the way it all would go
Our lives are better left to chance
I could have missed the pain
But I’d have had to miss the dance

If our lives are better left to chance
Oh, our lives are better left to chance
Oh, our lives are better left to chance

I could have missed the pain
But I’d have had to miss the dance

Source: Musixmatch

Dear God, I was listening to this song yesterday and thinking about the introduction Garth Brooks gives it in the official music video. The first verse obviously sets the context as being about a romantic relationship, but he explains in that he also likes to think of it as being about living our lives in general and the choices we make to try to do the right things. Sometimes it ends in pain, but the pain or even tragedy is part of the journey and story as well.

Now, I know that not everyone even has the “dance” in their lives. The really joyous good times. I know that some have known nothing but pain their entire lives. But I can claim no such thing. I have had some remarkably wonderful times. There are times I still remember from childhood that were amazing. I’ve known my wife nearly my entire adult life, and we have done remarkable things together as well. When we got married, we had no idea some of the pain that awaited us. I could enumerate the pain we’ve experienced over the last 32 years of knowing each other, but you know it all better than I do. My life, comparatively, hasn’t been tragic my any stretch of the imagination. I’ve had pain to be sure. And there are some specific aspects of my current life that are extremely painful. Frankly, I’m not sure if they will ever be resolved. I’ve done what I can to resolve them, but their future is in the hands of others. So I’ve resigned myself to love them through letting them go and accept the pain as part of that love.

But coming back to this song, there is a lot of brilliance in it. I’m glad I didn’t know 20 or 30 years ago that I’d be exactly where I am now. There is so much wisdom in you keeping me on a need-to-know basis. It’s 8:32 in the morning as I type this right now. I don’t even know what 8:33 will bring. That’s okay. That’s good. If I will just stay in the moment and not worry about the next one then I can fully enjoy the good you are bringing me, absorb the pain, and commune with you.

On this vacation, the vision I keep having is from the 23rd Psalm. This two-week break is a luxury. You are leading me to green pastures and still waters. You are restoring my soul. There will be other times when I will experience the valley of the shadow of death. There will be times when I will be before my enemies. But right now, in this moment, you are restoring my soul. Thank you.

Father, I told you several months ago that I was having dinner with some old friends, and as we shared our lives with each other I thought of the metaphor of each of us having a representational bucket that contained the circumstances of our lives. All of the good and all of the bad. I came to the conclusion at that dinner that if I had the option to put my bucket in the middle of the table along with theirs and then we were each able to choose someone else’s bucket, I would, without a doubt, take my own. Everyone there would probably do the same. Why? As I sit here this morning, I think it is because, regardless of the pain in that bucket, it also contains all of those good and precious memories and moments of which I could not bear to let go. I have more than I deserve. I am grateful for the good and the bad. I embrace the life you’ve given me. Help me to, even in the hard times, worship you as the God who really loves me and can use my life in whatever way helps your kingdom to come to earth and your will to be done.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 

Acts 20:24

But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God. – Acts 20:24

Dear God, you know I have a long history with this verse that goes back 34 years. It was one of the first verses I chose to memorize without someone like a Sunday school teacher or youth minister asking me to memorize it. But did I understand it then? Do I understand it now?

I came to see it differently a couple of years ago when I was studying Job. I used to think this verse was about being willing to be reckless for you. After all, that’s what Paul was doing. He was intentionally risking his life. Is that what I should do? Then realized after studying Job that that was partially true, but there was more. Job went through unbelievable trials to ultimately get to a point where he realized that nothing in the world or about his life was about being for his personal luxury. It was about whatever path you had fir him so that your will might be done in the world and in the lives of others–even an example for me thousands of years later. After studying Job, I realized that of all of the biblical characters, Paul seems to have gotten to that place of submission easier and faster than others. He sat in jail without complaint. He submitted to a path that, even though it meant his suffering and ultimate execution, lead to Christianity spreading to the West. And all of that spirit and knowledge is captured by what Luke recorded Paul as saying here.

Father, I have a financially comfortable life, and I sometimes feel guilty about that. But there are certainly other things that I don’t like about my life that you are using–at least that I pray you are using–to bring your kingdom and will into the world. So help me to really—ooo, this is a dangerous thing to pray–help me to really live into this concept. Help me to consider my life worth nothing to me. Help me to complete the task and finish the race you have asked me to run.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 

John 3:17

God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.
John 3:17

Dear God, my high school pastor loved this verse. He used to have a passage for us to recite at the end of each church service. One year, he had us do John 3:16-17. He made sure we didn’t forget this part. If his goal was to get us to memorize scripture it worked because I’m sitting here 35 years later and I can still hear the words ringing in my ears.

One thing about this pastor is that he really focused on Your love and grace. In fact, as I grew older and went back to listen to some of his sermons on cassette while I was in college, I realized his sermons were almost always on grace and there wasn’t much on discipleship. Going further down the road, as it turned out, he was a bit tormented by some guilt/shame in his own life. Putting it all together, I’ve wondered how much of his sermons and methods were an effort to emotionally reconcile himself to you, not quite grasping just how deep your love for him was.

Father, your desire is to love us all. As a father myself, my desire for my children is good things. Knowing how I feel about them informs, at least a little, of how I view your love for me. So help me on my journey of working out my faith and reconciling what my head believes and my heart feels. Help me to love my children the way you love me. And help me to carry your love and presence into the world.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 

“Truth Be Told” by Matthew West

https://youtu.be/j4wYkS8Z3Io

“Truth Be Told” by Matthew West

Lie number one you’re supposed to have it all together
And when they ask how you’re doing
Just smile and tell them, “Never better”
Lie number 2 everybody’s life is perfect except yours
So keep your messes and your wounds
And your secrets safe with you behind closed doors
Truth be told
The truth is rarely told, now

I say I’m fine, yeah I’m fine oh I’m fine, hey I’m fine but I’m not
I’m broken
And when it’s out of control I say it’s under control but it’s not
And you know it
I don’t know why it’s so hard to admit it
When being honest is the only way to fix it
There’s no failure, no fall
There’s no sin you don’t already know
So let the truth be told

There’s a sign on the door, says, “Come as you are” but I doubt it
‘Cause if we lived like it was true, every Sunday morning pew would be crowded
But didn’t you say the church should look more like a hospital
A safe place for the sick, the sinner and the scarred and the prodigals
Like me
Well truth be told
The truth is rarely told
Oh am I the only one who says

I’m fine, yeah I’m fine oh I’m fine, hey I’m fine but I’m not
I’m broken
And when it’s out of control I say it’s under control but it’s not
And you know it
I don’t know why it’s so hard to admit it
When being honest is the only way to fix it
There’s no failure, no fall
There’s no sin you don’t already know
So let the truth be told

Can I really stand here unashamed
Knowin’ that you love for me won’t change?
Oh God if that’s really true
Then let the truth be told

I say I’m fine, yeah I’m fine oh I’m fine, hey I’m fine but I’m not
I’m broken
And when it’s out of control I say it’s under control but it’s not
And you know it
I don’t know why it’s so hard to admit it
When being honest is the only way to fix it
There’s no failure, no fall
There’s no sin you don’t already know
Yeah I know
There’s no failure, no fall
There’s no sin you don’t already know
So let the truth be told

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Matthew West / Andrew Pruis

Dear God, I’m going to wait a bit before I post this one. I’m writing it on Friday morning, but I won’t post it until this evening. Why? Because I have a surprise for someone today. This month marks 40 years of sobriety for someone special to me. I bought him a 40-year chip to give him when I see him later today. Something tells me that this anniversary is more important to me than it is even to him. I don’t know, that might not be true, but I do know that it’s important to me.

I was there 40 years ago when he brought his addiction to alcohol to you. He admitted his life had become unmanageable, he was powerless over alcohol and he need you to restore him to sanity. And while I’m grateful that he has bee free from the perils of alcohol and what it does to your mind and body over the last 40 years, I think the real gift it gave me was an 11-year-old boy seeing a man being willing to admit he was powerless. A man being willing to be vulnerable. A man who purposefully displayed his weakness that day and then the subsequent 40 years. He has been able to minister to countless people over the years because he admitted his weakness to himself, to you, and to the public.

This song is a more generic version of that idea. Of course, humility applies to more than addiction. I applies to every sin because all of us have committed every sin. By the standard Jesus set, we have all murdered, committed adultery, stolen, etc. But it’s the person who admits their failures to others who has a chance to be a blessing.

I was talking with a friend this morning who is a recovering alcoholic. He talked about a disappointing thing that work that made him want to justify having a drink. I think his last drink was about 15 months ago, but he knows he’s only one drink away from a real problem. He asked me to pray for him.

Then I have myself. I certainly have my insecurities. I have the things I covet. I was listening to a Christian podcast this week that talked about the young man who killed the women at the Asian spas. One of the topics was how Christian men carry around a lot of shame about their sexual desires. In this case, the young man claimed he was trying to rid himself and other men of the sexual temptation the Asian women are. Of course, that is sick and absolutely wrong. I can’t help but wonder if a church culture that was more open to discussing these things would have helped him a little more. As it is, his home church has now disowned him as someone who is not in good standing with them. Obviously, he will spend the rest of his life in jail (as he should), but isn’t this when he needs them the most?

Father, I want to start by thanking you for the earthly father you gave to me. Thank you for his example of humility. Thank you for his sobriety. Thank you for his failed humanness. If he was perfect then I would be miserable trying to live up to him. But he is flawed, just like me. Thank you that he can admit that. I hope my children see that I’m willing to admit my failings as well. Then I want to pray for my friend from this morning. Guide him through this day, moment by moment. Help him to cling to you. And for your church, use messages like this song to convict us and bring us to repentance before you.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen