Toilet Prayers

The Bible has much to say about communicating with God.  We are to tell God the thoughts of our heart, sing His praises, listen to Him, worship.  We are also to go to a special place:  Moses spent 40 days with God on top of Mount Sinai.  Elijah experienced God's presence on Mount Hoerb.  Jesus continually withdrew to the Garden of Gethsemane so that He could spend time alone with the Father.  

And for us in contemporary America, an open altar on Sunday is a great place to drop to your knees and start your week praying, alone or with friends.  Worship music is playing, the lights are set at "just right".  You are alone with your Creator regardless of being in a church congregation of 10 or 10,000. 


The above are all very official ways to spend time with God. But what about toilet prayers?  

Yes, toilet prayers.  Here are scenarios that will possibly lead you to this place:  

• At work, the day is overwhelming.  Deadlines loom, bosses scream, co-workers don't produce necessary information.  You need a minute to stop and regroup with God. In case of emergency use the office facilities . . . 
• The kids are out of school after a highly sugared holiday party and you didn't get enough sleep.  They're wired; you're tired.  The coffee maker broke yesterday.  What you would do for just two minutes with God bring endless creative possibilities and solutions.  Can I just make it to the guest bathroom, the one at the back of the house?
• Serving others is fun and you love to do it but you need a second to catch your breath and ask God to remind you why you are serving.  Oh, no!  There's nothing in site but a porta-potty. 

The humble bathroom.  A less-than-dignified place of and far-less-discussed place for prayer. 

Let's be honest.  I have found myself in all of the above situations praying desperately and I am inclined to believe that God hears these prayers.  I actually think that He may even be a little more in tune with these than with my Sunday morning altar prayers.  Why?  The answer  is simple.  When I find myself huddled into a bathroom stall, in the stale gray of a public restroom, or the overly green hard of a plastic outhouse, rest assured that pretenses of pride are gone.  I cry out to God and He hears me.  I have left myself and my own efforts behind.  I am crying out to Him from deep in my heart and I am completely relying on Him.  

This is the essence of prayer.  Abandonment of self and focus on my God.   In the bathroom?  Yes.  


I am a huge proponent of getting me out of the way, looking to God with my entire being, and focusing on WHO HE IS and what I am not.  I'm ready to spend time with a toilet trivia book and a little extra Charmin if that's what it takes to talk to my Daddy. 

Relentless

The message yesterday was called Relentless and the subject was God's tireless pursuit of us. I "know" this in my head but I tend to forget this in my heart, especially in daily life.

God loves you. He loves me. The Maker of the Universe chases you down every day, waiting for you to respond to Him. Even if you have not yet given your live to Jesus, God wants to be part of your life.

The news is really good for Christians. 2 Chronicles 16:9 tells us that "The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him". That is great news! When we do our best to follow God, even in all of our broken efforts, He strengthens us.

All He is asking us is to pursue Him, to put everything else in second (or third place) and choose Him first. He's not requesting us to be perfect but He asks us to try and to do our best to be like Him.

In this season when we celebrate the birth of our Savior, I challenge us all to relentlessly pursue God. Tirelessly. Effortlessly. He gave His all for us. Let's do the same for Him.
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Our $29,000 God.

Reposted from Stuff Christians Like - Jon Acuff  This is good stuff and you should definitely read it.  I don't want a God who fits in my pocket, either, and neither should you.

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Our $29,000 God. Posted: 24 Nov 2010 04:23 AM PST A few months ago, my five year old, McRae told me, “The biggest number I know of is 26.” At the end of her understanding of numbers was the number 26. In her mind, that was really how big numbers come. If you wanted to describe how far the moon was from earth, probably about 26 miles. Want to say how long it felt to wait for Christmas to get here? It was like 26 minutes! Number of pieces of candy she estimates she got for Halloween? 26. It’s her biggest number. Until that is, I told her about 27. And blew her mind. She’s not great at “sizing” things. But that’s OK, she’s 5. She’s pretty sure fairies are real. She’s convinced every dog in the world would like to meet her. The other day at Costco she saw a man with a white beard and proceeded to yell to everyone in the store, “Santa is shopping here today! He. Is. Here. Today!!” That’s OK behavior for her. She’s just a kid. She’s little. But oddly enough, she’s not the only one who tends to get sizes all twisted. She’s not the only one who tends to “under size.” In fact, I think lot of us do that, especially when it comes to God. I learned this last year when the Stuff Christians Like community raised money to build a kindergarten in Vietnam. On a random Monday, I asked readers to help me raise $30,000 and that honestly made me nervous. It’s weird to ask for money. It changes your intimacy levels. It’s like actually holding hands during couples skate at Roller Kingdom in Hudson, Massachusetts. Sure, you might skate around in circles with Stacy Valentino listening to Bobby Brown’s “Tender Roni,” but holding hands is a whole nother level. (That example got really specific and 7th gradery.) But it’s true, asking for money is awkward, which is why pastors do the money disclaimer when they preach. They start their sermon by saying, “I never normally preach about money, I never preach about tithing, except today.” And that’s always the Sunday your neighbor or coworker finally agreed to come to church with you. Your friend always comes on the money Sunday or the day the mime group, “Gloves of Love” is there to perform. So I was anxious about asking for money. And I honestly thought it would take us 6 weeks to raise $30,000. But if you’ve read this site for a while, you know that was not the case. We raised all $30,000 in a matter of 18 hours. It took us less than a day to complete the entire campaign and I realized I had been like McRae with the number 26. Here’s what I essentially said to God before the project started: “God, you are massive. You are huge. You made the universe and created all space and time. You are without end! But, you are slightly less big than $30,000. You’re like a really solid $29,000 God. And that’s awesome. I mean that’s pretty good. I think you’re almost all powerful, you’re just not $30,000 powerful.” Have you ever done that? Have you ever been faced with what felt like an insurmountable challenge and in the midst of that, you’ve worshiped a really small God? Have you ever prayed something like: “God, you are gigantic. You rule the universe. You’re just not as big as my college application process. You are slightly too small to handle that.” Or “God, I love you. You are massive and supreme. You are huge, except you’re not big enough to handle my divorce. You are smaller than this experience.” Or “God, you are like the real He-Man, you are master of the universe! You are so big and so all knowing, except you probably don’t know how to handle my job search. You’re big, you’re just slightly tinier than my unemployment.” No one would actually prays those words, but that’s what flows from our heart when we allow doubt to set up shop. That’s how we live when we feel like we’ve got to force things to happen or they never will. That’s what happens when we under size God. The truth is, God is bigger than $30,000. God is bigger than a divorce. God is bigger than unemployment. God is bigger than a teen daughter who swears she doesn’t love you. God is bigger that money problems. God is bigger than our biggest dreams. And I thank God that he is. I think sometimes we want him to be pocket-sized and manageable. I’ve heard people say things like, “I want a God who can explain to me why bad things happen to good people.” I understand that frustration, I do, but here’s the thing. I don’t want a God who ever has to fit within my understanding. I don’t want a God who is limited by mind and my experiences. I want a big God. A God that spans generations and space and time. I don’t want a God who needs my approval or comprehension to do something big. How we as a people have lost a sense of the mysterious when part of the trinity is the Holy “Ghost” is beyond me, but we have. This holiday season, as the birth of Christ is remembered, let’s celebrate our big God. Let’s honor a huge, wild, unable to be controlled by our small minds God. He’s bigger than that thing you worried about or dreamt about. I promise.

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Living with Abandon

Sunday Pastor Jeff talked about living with Abandon.  Abandon.  Merriam Webster describes the verb of abandon as to give up to the control or influence of another person or agent; to give oneself (over) unrestrainedly.  This definition brings to mind the following things:  

• To let go
• To forget that people are watching
• To live life fully according to my faith in God
  

Before you go and pass judgment on me or think that I'm too crazy with these ideas, try these scenarios on for size.  

• At the local knitting bee you let your cardigan drop carelessly to the floor, wave your yarn wildly over head, and chant "CA-BLE-NEED-LE! CA-BLE NEED-LE!"  
• At your child's school performance you run to the front of the auditorium with the video camera, knocking other parents out of the way to film your child while screaming "No one have ever been that good of a rock before!  You're gonna be a star!  Mama loves you, baby!!!"  
• On the front lines of the 0400 crowd at the after Thanksgiving sale you take your buggy (yes, buggy!) and plow over shoppers in front of you to get the very last $99.99 item.  

Those are all instances of living with abandon.  Absurd, maybe, but Abandon.  Jesus wants nothing less than having us live with Abandon for Him.  He did likewise for us.  He died a horrible death for our sins; He was perfection in the form of broken humanity, hanging on a cross, in humility, to save us.  He deserves at the minimum is for me to live each day for Him with Abandon and let the world see.  

Undignified

Pastor Jeff was on fire today with his sermon.  First of all, Consumed has been fantastic!  It has been hard hitting, direct, much needed, and right on time, at least for me. I love worship.  I have always liked to sing and praise God.  I enjoy being surrounded by people who praise and being inundated in worship with God's people but I am learning that worship is so much more.  I am learning to be consumed with worship. 

Worship is walking away from a dirty joke at work.  Worship is loving those I consider unlovely.  Worship is taking the time to sit with one of my children when my patience is growing thin.  Worship is giving up something that I want so that someone else may have something they need. Worship is not being afraid to be different.  Worship is dancing naked in front of a procession bearing the ark of the Lord.  

Oh, yeah, naked.  

King David was so excited that the ark was finally being returned home to it's proper place that he danced wildly in front of the ark.  He was so consumed with worshiping God that he lost his wife over this act of  worship.  She confronted him and condemned him for his foolish behavior in front of his people.  

David's response?  Simple:  I will celebrate before the Lord.  I will become even more undignified than this.  (2 Samuel 6:21-22)

Today, let's be undignified.  Let's live today with total love for our King regardless of what others around us think.  God will bless you; He hears the worship of His people. 

I'll close with a little treat from DCB; one of my favorite tunes from the Lime cd.  Enjoy! 

Undignified - DCB

Living A Life of Cliches

This month I have been posting daily at Twitter and Facebook one thing I am grateful for.  The list is varied; you will find anything from "being able to wear jeans to work" to "Thankful to be a child of the King of the Universe".  I have had a lot of fun posting these things. 

In my typical fashion, though, I decided that simply being grateful is not enough and that I should name this initiative of positive existence.  I decided upon "A November to Remember" and then the phrase "Attitude of Gratitude" came to mind and I didn't know which would fit.  After all, an idle mind is the devil's playground and I got so tied up in naming this activity rather than being grateful that I got mad as a wet hen and realized I was barking up the wrong tree altogether!

Feeling dumb as a stump, I was reminded by the Holy Spirit that the point of this exercise is to be grateful not to get tied up in the details of what to call the act of doing so.  So, hope against hope, I scrapped the naming process and to back to the action of being grateful.  Praise God!  He reminded me that it ain't over til the fat  lady sings and in the way only He can do, He gave me yet another second chance. 

I'm going to get down to business and share the point directly with you:  listing things I'm grateful for is not the same as living a life that demonstrates gratitude.  And living a life of gratitude has one simple name:  Christianity.  It doesn't need for me to relabel it or rework it in my head. 

My gratitude for today is this:  grateful that I can live a life that is pleasing to my King.  Stop the presses!  I think I may be onto something here! 

Mark, Beyonce, and Crab Legs

For my lunch partners yesterday. . .

 

Did that title grab your attention?  I hope so!  That little teaser is all that I'm going to share with you because that silly phrase came about at lunch yesterday and this blog is not about lunch or Mark. Beyonce, and Crab Legs.  This blog is about something that is dear to my heart and that "something" is fellowship. 

 

One of my absolute favorite parts of being a Christian is fellowship – hanging out with the body of Christ.  Fellowship is so wonderful and so important to me.  It is a vital part of feeling like I belong in the church. 

 

Below is a short list of some attributes of fellowship that I have experienced: 

 

Eating (Hooray!)

Praying

Studying

Serving

Praising

Crying

Sharing

Laughter

 

If you feel like you are missing something in your life as a Christian I would tell you to be sure that you are hanging out with Christian folks.  This can be in friendships, a small group environment, at a special service such as Night of Worship or Christmas Eve, through service, membership or Fresh Start classes, or even just milling around in the church lobby before or after service. 

 

I challenge you to seek fellowship with someone in the body of Christ.  If you currently hang out with church folk, think about some of the fun moments you have shared together.  You may just reflect on or come up with your own headline that puts "Mark, Beyonce, and Crab Legs" to shame. 

 

Secret Agent Man

Secret agents have some great advantages in this world.  Take James Bond for example; he is an international man of mystery; he has tricks and gadgets and tools that make your head spin.  He looks debonair and suave, he never gets messy and he always gets himself out of trouble.  As far as I can see, however, that's where his rewards end. 

 

You see, poor ol' Jimmy (no one every called him "Jimmy", I'm sure, before now) eats alone at the holidays.  He might eat at the finest restaurant in the entire world but there is no one with whom he can share.  He might have the newest car or nicest watch (that can shoot your eye out) but he has to get them for himself.  Even if someone gives him one of these things, they give it expecting that he will do something in return.  And he cannot tell anyone what he is doing or why he is doing it; his job is to operate in secrecy, total anonymity. 

 

To make matters worse, JB is a hero when he saves the day.  Everyone applauds him.  If he messes up, though, no one supports him.  He's all alone to figure out how to fix the catastrophe.  And, if it suits the HQ, M to be exact, she will deny him in a heartbeat and let him take the fall for everyone else. 

 

I don't think it's good to be a secret agent.  Neither does God. 

 

Unlike agent 007, Christians are called to be part of a body of believers, a family.  This is one of my favorite parts of being a follower of Christ.  I don't have to eat alone or worship alone or struggle alone or rejoice alone.  I am never alone because Jesus has promised to be with me.  The most amazing part is that Jesus gave His life for me and never expected anything from me in return.  He wants me to love Him and follow Him in obedience but He was willing to die regardless of how I treat that sacrifice. 

 

The only thing He tells me is that I cannot deny Him in front of me, or He will deny me in front of His father.  It's as simple as that.  I cannot wear the trench coat of Christian stealthy or hide behind the mask of the mundane or mediocre.  I am called to be in the world but not of the world.  There's no such thing as a secret agent Christian. 

 

Today I challenge us all to live openly for Christ.  I don't have to wear a t-shirt that says Jesus Rules or walk around with my Bible tucked under my arm everywhere I go.  My speech and my actions, however, should mirror my love for him.  Keeping my mouth shut when everyone else is talking or talking when everyone else hides in silence should show people that I'm different because He lives in me. 

 

Throw out the membership card to the secret society and live in the light of Jesus today. 

Name That Tune

I love old hymns. They just bring a joy to my heart that I cannot find elsewhere. I can hear my grandmother singing to my grandfather when he was at the dying. I have fond memories of (attempting to) playing hymns on my other grandmother's organ when we would spend time with her in the summers.

One of the things that I like about old hymns is that they ring true for so many direct sentiments and that they are simple. They don't complicate the gospel. Here are a few of my favorites:

"I have a song that Jesus gave me, it was sent from heaven above, there never was a sweeter melody, tis a melody of love . . . "

"Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me, I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see"

"When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul"

"At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light, where the burdens of my past rolled away, it was there by faith I received my sight, and now I am happy all the day"

Let the lyrics of these songs bathe your soul in peace. Ask an older relative to share a memory of the favorite hymn. Close your eyes, hear the music in your mind, and relive a past experience. This may seem old fashioned but one day our Hill Song and Chris Tomlin and David Crowder will be oldies to our children and to their children. Share Jesus with generations, both past and present, through music today.
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Night of Worship

We just left the night of worship and it was AWESOME!!!! There are no words to describe this evening.  I just want to share some random thoughts that are on my mind: 

• I owe so many people in my sphere of influence an apology.  I have not lived each day as a life of worship; I have lived day-to-day and I'm so sorry that I have not shown Jesus through my life.  
• I don't EVER want my life to be the same.  I don't know exactly how God is going to change me but I have come to the realization that I cannot change me but I can walk in obedience and let Him rule in me and change me in bigger ways that I ever imagined possible. 
• Our teenagers rule!!!!  If you think there is no hope for the future take a look around Stockbridge Community Church and see what God is doing.  
• Worship contained to our four walls at SCC is a disservice.  Worship is not meant to be demonstrated only in our walls and never shared with a lost and dying world.  That's not true worship.  True worship goes out boldly and shines the light of Jesus into a dark and hurting world.  
• Worship, as defined by my friends at www.m-w.com, is to regard with great or extravagant respect, honor, or devotion.  This should be my every day attitude and outlook, not just a quarterly outpouring to God.  

I could go on for a while because I'm so excited about what God is doing at SCC but I'll close after these few thoughts.  What's your feedback on tonight or on worship in general?  I'd love to hear from you. 

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Having 2 Gods.

Really good stuff from John Acuff today; it stopped me in my tracks.  I tend to serve the After Crucifixion God these days.  Take a minute to read this and make sure that you remember that our God is greater, our God is stronger, He is higher than any other, He is healer, He is awesome in power, He is merciful and lovely and gracious. 

Having 2 Gods.

Posted: 03 Nov 2010 06:16 AM PDT

I am a wuss.

When I was growing up, we watched the movie Jaws. I imagined that the floor was an ocean and that if my feet touched it, that massive shark would bite them. Twenty five years later I still refuse to have my feet on the floor during scary moments. In movie theaters, at home, at friends' houses, I will yank my feet up if a movie grows dark and an "oboe of terror" starts to mournfully play.

I am a wuss, but sometimes this world is legitimately scary.

The Department of Justice recently did a study that showed that 1 out of every 4 girls will be raped before graduating college.

Every day, kids plant landmines online that will not explode until they are older and realize a photo can never, ever be deleted from the Internet.

The only fictional part of movies like "Man on Fire," and "Taken," is the idea that someone is coming to rescue the kidnapped and sex slaved children around the world.

We are hurt and continuing to hurt each other.

And into that world, I am sending my two daughters.

That scares me sometimes. I'm trying to send my two daughters out into the world so full of love that when culture tries to spill them, they will not empty. When faced with temptations or trials or hurts, they will be so sure of who they are, in both our family and our God, that they will not be full of doubt. That they will know that whatever they do, whoever they grow into, the love I gave them as children is the love I will give them as adults.

My fear is that they will think I am two dads, in the same way lots of Christians think there are two gods. (That almost sounded like a reference to the show, "My 2 Dads," but I assure you it was not. Worst show concept. "We were both sleeping with your mom and don't know which one of us is your father. I'm wacky, he's straight laced!")

What do I mean by two gods?

Simply this: Sometimes, we live our lives as if there is a Pre Crucifixion God and an After Crucifixion God.

If you're a Christian, at some point in your life you've been bowled over by the graciousness and wildly unkempt love God had for you Pre Crucifixion. He so greatly desired your presence and your closeness that he sent his only son to the cross to draw your near. Over a period of generations he unfolded a plan that sent his son to the cross and you to his arms. His love was so deep and true that he forsake his own son to open the door to you. There is no greater love.

We are overwhelmed by Pre Crucifixion God. He is amazing and as one author put it, almost wasteful in his love for us he pours it out so generously and lavishly.

And then we start to live life.

Then the weeks and months start to stack up between us and that moment when we first encountered Pre-Crucifixion God. We get some distance between us and that unleashed, unbridled love. And we make some mistakes. We fail. We fall down. And that is when we meet After Crucifixion God.

That is when we find ourselves hiding in the shadows. Like Adam and Eve accepting an apple when they were already given the whole orchard, we choose the small and insignificant and we blow it. In that moment, what do we do?

Do we run back to Pre-Crucifixion God? Do we say to ourselves, "This God of mine, he loved me so much that he sent his son to die for me. Where else could I find love like that? Where could I find forgiveness like that? Look what he did in the past, surely he would love me in the present!"

No, that is usually not what I do. Often, when I fail, I construct a less loving God in my head. He has arbitrary rules and regulations. He is not so loving. He is a God who keeps score and tallies failure. He wants me to earn things. He does not lavish grace. He regulates it. I end up finding an After Crucifixion God. A less loving caricature of the God I used to know.

I end up serving two Gods.

But the truth is, there is only one God.

God was not just loving in the past, he is love.

God was not just forgiving in the past, he is forgiveness.

God was not just gracious in the past, he is grace.

The God who drew you near with the death of his son, is the same God who loves you through the new failures of the new day. That wild love, is still the love he gives.

Because there is only one God.

I hope my daughters will always know that the dad who loved them when they were 3 will love them when they are 33. I hope L.E. and McRae will always know my love for them is not subject to performance or accomplishment. It just is.

And I'm only a dad, a broken human of a dad.

Imagine how the one God feels about you?

Are You Radical?

Radical hope, faith, love, joy.  When I first heard about the campaign and we talked about getting back to the roots of Christianity, I though that the items in the list of "radical elements" were things that I had licked.  This campaign was going to be for someone else and I was going to coast through this six weeks. 

Famous last words (well, famous last thoughts). 

This six weeks has proved to be grueling for me.  The struggles that I have faced as I let my spiritual guard down have been overwhelming at times.  The battle has raged during fall campaign for us as individuals and as a congregation.  Satan has been playing hardball and he's hit us low and dirty.  Personally, I have been angry, confused, frustrated, lost, doubting, and a list of other emotions that are all negative.  I have hardly felt joy or hope or love.  I have felt much more like I was manifesting acts of the flesh (anger, rage, hate, discord, selfish ambition) rather than the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:19-26). 

As we draw to a close of this campaign I am grateful for God's goodness and His never failing love.  I am so thankful that even as I have not proven myself a mighty warrior during this time that He has and is lovingly showing me where my weaknesses are, where I must rely more on Him, and how to be better prepared for the next battle I face. 

You see, His mercies are new every morning.  His faithfulness is great.  As Jeremiah said, "The Lord is my inheritance; therefore,  I will hope in Him!" (Lamentations 3:22-24)  Because of God's goodness, I can say with confidence,  "I am radical".  I hope you are, too.