• Our hope-filled future is bound up in sharing the story of Jesus, in discipling others, in bringing those disciples together into communities of believers, and in developing and releasing those believers to create other communities... till Jesus the King comes again!

In The Busyness of Life

Posted on November 8, 2010 by wtdavid

There were several parts in the second chapter of the book, A Praying Life, which caused me to step back and reflect.  One was where Paul Miller commented:

“The quest for the contemplative life can actually be self-absorbed, focused on my quiet and me. If we love people and have the power to help, then we are going to be busy.  Learning to pray doesn’t offer us a less busy life; it offers us a less busy heart.  In the midst of outer busyness we can develop an inner quiet.  Because we are less hectic on the inside, we have a greater capacity to love … and thus to be busy, which in turns drives us even more into a life of prayer.”

I would probably have to say that I search for a less busy life rather than a less busy heart leading to a “greater capacity to love.” 

A second thought that struck me, just a few paragraphs later, was where he says:

“As you develop your relationship with your heavenly Father, you’ll change.  You’ll discover nests of cynicism, pride, and self-will in your heart.  You will be unmasked.  None of us likes being exposed.  We have an allergic reaction to dependency, but this is the state of the heart most necessary for a praying life.  A needy heart is a praying heart.  Dependency is the heartbeat of prayer.”

Seeing more of “one’s stuff” is seemingly not a major driver to prayer, and yet somehow it prepares the heart to a “greater capacity to love” God and others.

So, in the busyness of our lives, let’s talk about these questions:

  • Describe what feeds your “busy heart”.  What causes your heart, at times, to be on such an adrenaline rush?
  • Why does repentance, seeing and turning from our own sin, need to be such an important part of our experience and connection with God?

Filed under: Gospel, Humility, Prayer | 2 Comments »

Lessons Learned❷

Posted on November 4, 2010 by wtdavid

If the number❶ take-away was: Preach, proclaim, and share the Gospel fearlessly.  Then the number❷ take-away would have to be: Recognize that we are living in the 21st century.  Simply put, we have transitioned from the 20th century to a new era with a new context and new challenges.  We will need to adapt, shift, and yes even change some of our ministry methods and approaches.

In terms of technological advances, internet is a paradigm shifting media tool as was the printing press in its day.  Over one third of the population of a Gulf nation is on Facebook alone. We will need to harness its potential while resisting its alluring appeal to drive us farther away from God and face to face community.

In terms of social changes, there is more slavery and human trafficking occurring today than during the time of William Wilberforce who worked tirelessly to have slavery abolished throughout the United Kingdom.  Not that we should shift our focus from establishing communities of believers, but those communities must engage the world around them.  As John Piper said, “For the sake of Christ, we Christians care about all suffering, especially eternal suffering.  If you feel a resistance to the second half of this statement, then you have a defective view of hell.  If you feel a resistance to the first half of this statement, then you have a defective heart.” 

In terms of changes in religious faiths, today over 1 billion people in the world call themselves M’s. Few are the resources that are being directed to reach out to this people.  Many M’s are in unengaged, unreached people groups with no known worker among them or being sent to reach them.  That reality must be taken into consideration as we seek to mobilize human, financial and prayer resources.

In terms of mission, it is becoming harder to mobilize workers to ministries.  “Support raising”, as traditionally understood, is taking longer.  We will need to find creative ways to “support” workers in ministries.  Workers are coming from everywhere wanting to be sent everywhere.  With this, come all the difficulties of communication in a multicultural team in a cross cultural context.

Recognizing that we are living in the 21st century should cause us to lean more dependently on God, listening to His voice as He enables us to adapt, change and serve him joyfully in a world in flux.

Filed under: Cape Town 2010, Mission, Mobilization, Partnership | 6 Comments »

Are you enjoying the book?

Posted on November 2, 2010 by wtdavid

Filed under: Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Fierce Independence

Posted on November 1, 2010 by wtdavid

As we begin a global conversation on the book, A Praying Life, I encourage you to read or re-read the first five chapters.  Each Monday, I and others will share questions, insights and thoughts about a chapter or section of the book that we hope will encourage this dialogue between us.  I hope you will join us.

In the very first chapter, we read these comments by Paul Miller:

“We are so busy that when we slow down to pray, we find it uncomfortable.  We prize accomplishments, production.  But prayer is nothing but talking to God. It feels useless, as if we are wasting time.  Every bone in our bodies screams, “Get to work” …

If we try to be quiet, we are assaulted by what C.S. Lewis called “the Kingdom of Noise.”  Everywhere we go we hear background noise. If the noise isn’t provided for us, we can bring our own via iPod … 

One of the subtlest hindrances to prayer is probably the most pervasive. In the broader culture and in our churches, we prize intellect, competency, and wealth.  Because we can do life without God, praying seems nice but unnecessary.  Money can do what prayer does, and it is quicker and less time-consuming. Our trust in ourselves and in our talents makes us structurally independent of God.  As a result, exhortations to pray don’t stick.”

This “fierce independence” that Paul Miller describes is what caught my attention (and what I chose to underline).  A couple of questions to get us talking,

  • Describe what “structural independence” from God looks like in your life?  In your prayer life?
  • How can you (we) counter this fierce independence in such a way as to “slow down to pray” and learn a fervent dependence?

Filed under: Prayer | 6 Comments »

Lessons Learned❶

Posted on October 29, 2010 by wtdavid

I have to be honest and say that I was totally exhausted when I returned home after the Lausanne congress (Oct 16-25).  It will probably take me a number of days to process all that I heard, felt, experienced and took in during the 10 days that I was there.  But let me start to share some of my “take-aways”.

Number❶ take-away: Preach, proclaim, and share the Gospel fearlessly.  This seems so obvious.  Yet in a global context where pluralism (as well as other ‘isms’) contends that there cannot be any ultimate transcendent truth, we can find ourselves being lulled into a more apprehensive and hesitant approach to evangelism.

During my week in Cape Town, I heard from brothers and sisters from around the world whose methodology of church planting was characterized by the simple yet fearless and abundant sharing of the Gospel with others; sometimes at the cost of suffering to themselves and their families. 

A beginning response to this take-away would not be found in feeling “burdened” to share with others, so that our witness flowed out of obligation.  It would be found by sending our roots deeper into the One who is truth, Jesus Christ.  The joy that flows from knowing His great love for us (Ephesians 1) would then become our chief motivation.

Now here’s the hard question: How will you respond to preach, proclaim and share the Gospel fearlessly?

Filed under: Cape Town 2010, Gospel, Sharing the Gospel story | 1 Comment »

Listening

Posted on October 24, 2010 by wtdavid

Today was the final day of the conference.  We heard about partnerships.  I “listened” about collaboration and partnerships.  “The world we once knew, no longer exists,” shared David Ruiz, from Guatemala.  “It is now from everywhere to everywhere.”   

It is about learning to humbly give and receive resources.  It is “multidirectional in nature”.   

And it is demonstrated not only in the Trinity, but in God’s many dealings with His people (for example, with Adam & Eve or with Abraham).

A question that often came up was: What assets and challenges do global church partnerships bring? 

We certainly need to think about an answer to that question, but we also desperately need to hear what others have to say.

Filed under: Cape Town 2010, Mission, Partnership | 2 Comments »

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