A Humble Prayer

A humble prayer for the Holy Spirit to do a deep work in my soul.

Philip Doddridge modernized by R Schlichting

“Blessed God! I sincerely acknowledge before you my own weakness and insufficiency to begin anything that is spiritually good. I have failed a thousand times; and yet my foolish heart would again ‘trust itself,’ (Prov. 28:26) and form resolutions in its own strength. So, I ask that this be the first fruits of your gracious influence upon my heart: to bring it to a humble distrust of itself, and to a rest in you!

I rejoice, O Lord, in the kind assurances which you give me of your readiness to bestow liberally and richly so great a benefit to my heart. I do therefore, according to your condescending invitation, come with boldness to your throne, that I may find grace to help in every time of need. (Heb. 4:16)

I mean not, O Lord God, to turn your grace into a license for immorality or perverseness (Jude, ver. 4) or to make my weakness an excuse for negligence and sloth. I confess that you have already given me more strength than I have used! I charge it upon myself, and not on you, that I have even recently received still more grace from you through your Word and the Spirit. I desire for the future to be found diligent in the use of all appointed means of grace. When I neglect the grace you have given me, petitions like these become a profane mockery, and they might even provoke you to take away what I have, rather than prevail upon you to give me more. But firmly resolving to exert myself to the utmost to use the grace you have given, I earnestly ask for more grace, that I may be enabled to fulfill that resolution.

Be surety, O Lord, to me your servant for good. (Psa. 119:122) Be pleased to shed your sanctifying influences on my soul, to form me for every duty you require. Implant, I ask you, grace and virtue deep in my heart. Bear with me in the midst of me foolishly assaulting your grace. I know I will continue from time to time to do that while I am still in this world and carry about with me so much sin.

Fill me with good affections towards you, my God, and towards my fellow-creatures. Remind me always of your presence, and may I remember that every secret sentiment of my soul is open to you. May I therefore guard against the first risings of sin, and the first approaches to it. May I guard that Satan may not find room for his evil suggestions. I earnestly beg that you Lord, would fill my heart with your Holy Spirit. Dwell in me, and walk with me, (2 Cor 6:16) and let my body be the temple of the Holy Ghost.

May I be so joined to Jesus my Lord, as to be one with him, (1 Cor. 6:17) and feel His invigorating influences continually bearing me on, superior to every temptation and to every corruption. So that while young people shall faint and grow weary, I may so wait upon the Lord as to renew my strength, (Isai. 40:30,31) and may go on from one degree of faith, and love, and zeal, and holiness, to another, till I appear perfect before you in heaven; (Psa. 84:7) to drink in immortal vigor and joy from you, as the everlasting fountain of both, through Jesus Christ my Lord, in whom I have righteousness and strength, (Isai. 45:24). To him I desire to ascribe praise as the source of all my improvements forever. Amen.”

They are not like us

Did you watch the Winter Olympics? Truly the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. Our hearts grieve for the young man who lost his life in the luge. It was good news that the organizers made modifications to increase safety. In the days after the accident, commentators talked about winter sports, extreme sports and the people who engage in them. One of the commentators said this, “They are not like us.” That made me think.

Anyone who will slide down a mountain at 90 miles per hour on the equivalent of two sticks, one stick, a small board or a soapbox derby car is not like us. What makes them do it? Is it the adrenaline rush, the need for speed, the glory of victory, the approval of men, the gold medal or the fame? My guess is it is none of the above. They have a deep desire to do their best, their very best. They want to give it all away and not leave anything on the table. They are extreme because they are passionate.

Now lets compare them to the ordinary Christian. Take me for example. Can I say that I want to give it all away, to die to self and to do my very best? Would those who do not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ say about me, “He is not like us!” Hmm. That causes me to think even more. What is it about me that holds back, that resists taking risks, that keeps me on the “bunny” slope? Lack of faith. That is the difference. In the natural realm, Olympians believe that good things will happen and they believe they can do what they set out to accomplish. It should be so much more true in the spiritual realm for those who believe in Christ. All things do work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose. That would be me and you.

So where do we go from here? To the slope. Ask your self what is one thing in your life you have been fearful to do, that would be for His glory, and then ask Him for faith to move forward. The truth is we are not like them. We are becoming like Him as we keep in step with the Spirit and move forward in faith.

Worship Well

Silence

She knew he wouldn’t be happy about it, but she had to make the call. “Daddy? I’ve been in a car wreck. It…it was my fault.” Those are words a father does not want to hear. After determining physical safety, he asked where she was. They hopped in the car, mom and dad, and headed down to do what only a parent can do.

It was just a fender bender, and both cars were drivable. After giving insurance information, he slid into the driver’s seat of her car, with her in the passenger’s seat, for the long ride home. Her first words, “I know it is kind of lame to say, but I am sorry.” That’s always a good start.

Of course , there was a lecture. Parents are parents. Some instruction never hurt anyone, did it? Maybe it did, but it made his sin nature feel better. That is the truth. She listened and took it all in. As he spoke, a strange thing happened. It was as if he was talking to himself. Not that she was not listening. It was that he was listening to himself. “You need to be more careful; always be transparent. Listen to counsel; be a bit more circumspect.” Silence followed. “God protected you tonight; it could have been worse. Grace abounds; it was just a fender bender.” More silence. “You know we are for you. We always have been and always will be. There are some financial consequences here. We will have to work that out.”

“I know.” She said.

Then this, “Thanks for coming.”

“What?” He asked.

“Thanks for coming to get me.” She said.

Silence filled the car.

“You know, no matter what, you can always call, and we will always come. Never be afraid to pick up the phone no matter where you are or what you’ve done.”

A reassuring silence filled the car. She knew she could call, whenever. She knew she was loved forever. Sometimes , she might struggle to believe it or live like it, but she knew she was loved. The father knew he was loved too, and that he was able to love. No greater love has a man than what has been given to him by the Lord. He remembered times that he had made the call. The Father had always answered, and He had always come. What love, peace, security, and joy He gives us.

If you are afraid to make the call, we urge you today to know that He is for you. You can pick up the phone called prayer. Perhaps, as He answers and comforts you in your wrecked life and as you are reassured you are loved forever, He will bring a reassuring silence to your soul.

Worship Well .

Flicking

I can't seem to shake it off. Over the last month or so the Lord has really been working me over about sin. Not my specific sin (although He is having a go at that) but sin in general. Here is what I mean. In the past I have tended to view sin as “having some crumbs” on my pants after dinner. Most of the time I could ignore them. If I was in a energetic mood and they bothered me, it was easy for me to “flick” them off. Flick. It means “a light quick blow, jerk, or touch: a flick of the wrist.”

In other words, I could confess them, say I was sorry, and they would be whisked away. It was as if I flicked the crumbs on the floor and the dog came by to lick them up. Easy stuff. The only problem with that is simply this: sins are not crumbs. They are stains. You can’t flick stains off of your pants. Stains are a problem. A stain has to be washed out very carefully with the right soap, or guess what? It permanently stains the garment. I am sure that has happened to you before. A stain made permanent will cause you to throw away an otherwise good pair of pants.

So, if the word picture is catching your imagination, you might wonder what you can do about it. The Psalmist is helpful here. He says, “Cleanse me with hyssop and I will be clean, wash me and I’ll be whiter than snow.” You need to be washed. More specifically the garment of your soul needs to be cleansed by the blood of Jesus. He is the only one who can remove sin stain. All you need to do is stop trying to flick it off and give it to Him. You are not able. He is more than capable.

As you ask to be cleansed, you might want to thank Him for His power and you might want to ask if He would make your garment a bit more stain resistant. He can do that too. You are worth more than a good pair of jeans and He won’t throw you away.

Worship Well

Lost on Life

Here is the deal. I am not going to throw out theories. I am not going to get allegorical. I am not even going to guess at sub plots.

I am going to say that this show makes me think like no other ever has. It makes me think about relationships, suffering, sacrifice, good, evil, the times to come and what has happened in the past.

If Lost is just a TV show to you, I think you may be missing the grander purpose and you will be disappointed in the end. All things are from God for you and He would call you to look at everything in light of relationships, suffering, sacrifice, good, evil, the times to come and what has happened. Lost has an uncanny ability to help me focus on those things in my life more then other TV shows. It dials me in.

Now my good friend KT has made a great argument that 24 is similar. I concede the point, but I do have to tip the hat to Lost in terms of looking to what is not natural. We all need that. The unnatural. Something that makes us think but does not necessarily give us answers. This life is a mystery and learning to live in it while seeking truth and resting in promises is good for our souls.

The gospel is that. Jesus was here, is here and will be here. It includes suffering and sacrifice. It is a mystery being revealed, but not fully. There is a promise that we will get off the island, but not too soon. So, I encourage you to join in to both; the mystery of Lost and the mysteriousness of the gospel.

Worship Well

Translation Error?

I felt like he was about to explode. As I read the fourth chapter of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, I had this deep sense that he was shouting at me and in a good way. “I urge you to live a life worthy!” “There is one body...one spirit...one hope..one Lord...who is over all and through all and in all!” He really set me back on my heals with his intensity. Then I came to the seventh and eight verses, “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says:

‘When he ascended on high,
he led captives in his train
and gave gifts to men.’”

The “it says” Paul is referring to is Psalm 68:18. Read it carefully: “When you ascended on high, you led captives in your train; you received gifts from men,” (Psalm 68:18)

Hmm. The one ascending on high in Psalm 68 is receiving gifts and the one ascending on high in Ephesians 4 is giving gifts. There seems to be a mistake in Paul’s translation. Or is there?

In days of old, when a conquering king would enter a city he had subdued, he would lead the captives back into their city and receive gifts from them. It is easy to get that picture. After all, “to the victor go the spoils” and to the conquering king, gifts should be given. That is the imagery of Psalm 68; a conquering king who deserves tribute.

The Apostle Paul had seen the king. On the road to Damascus he had an encounter with the risen Jesus and he was conquered. Jesus required no tribute to be paid. He did not march Paul back to his home town and demand gifts. Instead he gave gifts. Jesus turns the role of a king on its head.

So as Paul is writing the letter to the Ephesians, he reminds them that we have the only God who gives gifts. In fact He apportions grace to each one of us who believe in Him as savior. He is the gift giving conqueror. No other religion has a God like that.

Paul goes on to say that God’s people should be prepared for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up. In part that will happen this week as you listen to the preaching of the word, partake of the sacrament, pray and sing. You are being prepared to go and minister in his name. Grace has been apportioned to you by your great gift giving king. That is something to get excited about.

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Lost vs 24

I have to do it. It is time to make a public stand. Lost is better than 24. I know my friend KT might disown me for saying that, but the truth has to be told. Here are the facts.

1. Jack kicks some tail. Smoke monster KICKS ALL TAIL!

2. People on 24 die. People on Lost die and then come back to life.

3. Jack can never die. ANYONE on Lost can die.

4. Jack rules the city. No one rules the island.

5. Jack needs computers. Lost? Technology is shut down.

6. All that in 24 hours? C'mon. You need time? Lost will give it to you!

7. Lost has literary and science allusions galore, including biblical ones.

8. Lost has the future.

9. Lost is multi ethnic.

10. Lost has an end.

So, there you have it and that is just a taste. There is something above and beyond on Lost that Bauerites can't get to. Nothing wrong with you watching both. Just know which is better.

OK. I am ready for comments.

Lost

I have not said anything about Lost since I don't know when. I just read a book by Chris Seay entitled "The gospel according to Lost" Very interesting. Chris does a nice job of recapping story line, analyzing characters and fishing out biblical themes. All very well done. Chris does not guess at what will happen. He causes the reader to think about what has happened. I recommend it as a quick read in preparation for the last season of Lost.

It fascinates me that so many people are captivated by Lost. Something has connected here for those who believe in God and for those who do not. I think the essence of it is that, as we watch Lost, we see that the Losties are involved in a mystery, the end of which they can not predict. That thought touches the heart of who we are. We know that we are involved in a mystery, the end of which we can not predict.

We hope for a good outcome and we want to make sure one happens but sometimes we fear it will not. Tension.

We can read the Bible all we want, go to conferences, pray and think, but the truth is we are in a mystery and no one knows how it will end. All we can say is that things have happened. We got here somehow. Someone was here before us. There is a greater power. He is in control and we are not. He can do supernatural things. We can not. And time moves forward. Except when we live in the past.

Those of us who are of faith, live with the mystery too, even though we don't like to admit it. We like to pretend we know more than we do.

We do have one thing though that others outside the faith do not: hope. A deep and abiding hope that Jesus was exactly who He said He was. Not just because of the Bible, but because internally we are convicted. It goes beyond words. We know we will get off the island and we know it will be good. We just don't know when.

In the mean time we are called to hang out with a motley crew of characters. Murderers, thieves and liars. As we do, we come to find out that they are us and we are called to look at ourselves. Past, present and future. That drives us to repentance and Him.

What will the next season bring? No spoilers here. I know as much as you, or maybe less. All I can say is that we are in the end season and all will be consummated in due time.

Blessings

Pride

All of us have some sense of pride in who we are and where we came from. Our own tradition is meaningful to us, be we German, Welsh or Italian, heritage means something. There is nothing wrong in being proud of where you came from. My guess is, for many of you, your father or mother told you, “Be proud!” regardless of the newness of your shoes, the fadedness of your jeans or even the color of your skin. Pride can be good.

There is a pride that goes deeper than the pride we have in our heritage. It goes beyond country of origin, patches on jeans or color of skin. It is a pride in whose we are and what we are called to. Martin Luther King understood that. He was a proud man. His pride was found in the One who had selflessly humiliated Himself to set men and women free. MLK was proud of Him. He boasted in Him. He was free at last in Him.

MLK was not interested in pride demonstrated by those who thought horizontally. Some were proud because they were black. Some were proud because they were white. MLK repudiated that level of pride as an end in itself. He knew it led to bondage. He knew there was a greater and richer pride found only through freedom in Christ. It was pride in the One who transcended color. The One whose blackened and butchered body dripped red blood on white cloth. His boasted in Jesus.

Bono of U2, a white Irishman, said it well as he wrote of Dr King. They could take his life, but they could not take his pride. Death could not kill boasting in the Lord. Jesus died a death He did not deserve to set a people free. “What more in the name of love?” Nothing. There is nothing more to be done in the name of love. Love has done all. Now we are called; black, white and brown to take pride in who we collectively are in Him, Christ Jesus our head. We are called to serve like Him, love like Him and take pride in His name as His glory spreads over the earth. To live as free men.

One day He will bring us all together, every tribe, tongue, color and nation. Until then He calls us to work together as we sing the songs of freedom:

Early morning, April 4
Shot rings out in the Memphis sky
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride

In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love...

Bono, U2 “Pride, (In the name of love)”

2010 It was a very good year!

Frank Sinatra sang it, “It was a very good year...”

When I was twenty-one
It was a very good year
It was a very good year for city girls
Who lived up the stair
With all that perfumed hair
And it came undone
When I was twenty-one

We have a habit of looking back and our memories have a habit of re-shaping the edges as we do. It was a very good year. Nothing wrong with looking back. I wonder if we can entice you to look back on 2010 and say NOW, “It was a very good year.”

You see, in God’s calendar, every year is a good year. It is Anno Domine, the year of our Lord. Further, when Jesus came over 2,000 years ago He inaugurated the year of the Lord’s favor. And that never ends. So, no matter what circumstances fall, you can count on it. 2010. It was a very good year.

Worship Well