Tamara Buchan

Turning our D's into P's

2012-01-25T11:39:00.001-08:00

D’s and P’s. They keep rolling around my head as the smaller letters: d and p. When you look at them it’s easy to see that they are direct opposites. But, when you turn a d around it becomes a p. Why is this important? It’s not the letters themselves but the words they represent that alert me to a reality of direct opposites, yet when the d is turned around, it becomes a p!

Think about it, the letter d begins the name of our enemy: Devil. The letter p’s points us to our Savior: Prince of Peace. I realize the d’s start words such as doubt, despair, destruction, disabled, discouragement, and depression which lead to death. The p’s lead me into life: peace, protection, provision, promise, power and perseverance. Who is the author of the d words? Of course, the Devil himself. Who is the creator of the life giving p words? Our Prince of Peace, the Son of the Living God.

I’ve been considering the reality of our ability to take a d in our life and to turn and face the Prince of Peace to partner with him to make the d’s our p’s. Two of the most devastating realities for people in the 21^st century is depression and despair. When the Devil gets us to believe that life will never change, we are chained into a prison of despair, no hope exists for breakthrough, we often find ourselves sinking into depression. But, when we take our despair and depression and bring it before the Prince of Peace, we are able to experience the d’s becoming p’s of peace and promise.

George Barna has a study out regarding how people progress in their journey with the Prince of Peace in his new book Maximum Faith: Live a life like Jesus. He writes:

“The transformation journey has ten stops en route to wholeness and freedom. Most Americans, according to the research, never get beyond stop three (awareness and concern about sin and its effects, but not cooperating with Christ to alleviate that problem). Among those who become “born again Christians,” most never move past stop five (i.e., having invited Christ to be their savior and then engaging in a lot of religious activity). In other words, a majority of the American public never reaches the second half of the stops on the journey to wholeness.”

The research actually indicates that only 2% of Jesus followers ever get to stop 9 and 10; the place where people live in peace, productivity and power, rather than doubt, despair and destruction.

How can this be? I spend a lot of time thinking about it because following Jesus is my life passion and pursuit. I am also privileged enough to also engage pursuit and passionate work helping others live a life of peace, protection, provision, promise, pleasure, passion, perseverance and power partnering with the Prince of Peace.

The question I wonder is, which life do you want?

Doubt, despair, depression, destruction, disablement, discouragement

Peace, power, perseverance, provision, protection, passion, pleasure and promise.

Missio Lux is committed to equipping people through intentional discipleship to change our d’s into p’s. We regularly ask ourselves and one another, “What is God saying to you? How are you responding to his invitation?” We walk through a Learning Circle (www.weare3dm.com) in huddle; a small group of 6 to 8 people meeting intentionally to discover how to follow the Prince of Peace in the life of p’s.

When we discover that our focus has been on the author of the d’s, or living in a d place of destruction, despair, depression and doubt, we take time to observe, reflect and discuss the root of the d, and the ability to turn it around so that it becomes a p in our life. This is called “repentance” which only means to turn around and go another direction. The d becomes a p as we turn it around….it faces another direction.

The good news about the turn of d’s to p’s in Missio Lux is that we don’t do it alone. We have the power of the Prince of Peace to make it happen and the support of a loving community. It happens through yet another life giving word: prayer. Prayer is our communion with the One who loved us so much he couldn’t live without us. Prayer is the place where our body, our mind and our emotions come into peace. Prayer is what reminds us we are protected and provided for; prayer brings us passion and pleasure, as we persevere through the challenge of d’s.

The d’s and p’s come with both invitation and challenge. The invitation comes through the Prince of Peace who came to earth to experience life as a human so we would know he cares about every aspect of our lives. Hebrews 4:15-16 state:

“This High Priest of ours, the Prince of Peace, understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.”

The challenge is whether we want the life Jesus came to give us enough to fight for it. Will we do the work to repent, or change our direction? Will we seek out a loving community who will walk with us in our journey from the d’s to the p’s? Will we share what we are experiencing with others, so they can live in freedom too? Will we pray often, setting aside sacred time with the Prince of Peace, so that our minds become permeated, another p, with his presence and power?

Here’s my challenge to you:

1. Make an intentional decision to set aside three days to do a mental audit of your thoughts. Carry around a notebook or a recorder so when a thought pops up, you can decide, “is this a d thought or a life thought?” when you decide, record it as a d or p.

2. At the end of the three days, count up how many d’s and p’s you have. Are they equal in number, or way out of balance?

3. Ask yourself if they are equal, Is this the life I want to live, or are too many of my thoughts dominated by the prince of death? If they are way out of balance on the d side, take immediate action and find a Celebrate Recovery or a Healing Prayer ministry, www.missiolux.org where you can find others who are intentionally facing their d’s head on and partnering with Prince of Peace to turn them into p’s.

4. Celebrate if you have a disproportion of p’s. This indicates you are living a life the Prince of Peace invites you to live. It also means you have the privilege and responsibility to take your life and multiply it into others. Jesus told us in John 15:7-8:

“If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

It is when we share our p’s with others, we live as a disciple. A disciple is one who patterns their life with their leader and multiplies their lifestyle. In our case, we want to pattern our lives with the Prince of Peace who teaches us how to live in such a way that our fruit spills out wherever we go because we are sharing the life of p’s with a world focused on d’s.

When we intentionally commit ourselves to partner with Prince of Peace to help support, encourage and equip others, the Father is filled with pleasure and in return, releases his pleasure into us. I dream of a world where the d’s have no more power because the p’s are so filled with life which entices us to live the life Jesus came to give us.

Reflections on "The Father's Delight"

2012-01-18T12:42:00.000-08:00

I remember when our daughters were younger and full of curiosity. It pleased me so much to do something special for them because of their joy filled response. My gifts were simple: an ice cream cone, a stop at the park for 10 minutes of swing time, sitting down to create a treasure out of playdough, hanging their picture on the frig. My simple “yes” to their desire made parenting them as young children an enjoyable experience.

As I’ve grown in my identity as a beloved child of my Heavenly Father, I’ve begun to realize my interaction with my young children mirrors the interaction I have with my heavenly daddy. He, too, delights to please me because of the joy it gives me to experience his answer. It’s cylical too: the more I express my delight, the more he loves to give me his gifts. This reality is even in Scripture when Jesus expresses, “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him” (Matthew 7:11)

I’ve been praying a Scripture out of 1^st Timothy 6 that almost always causes my spirit to leap up, “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment!” There it is in print: our heavenly father richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.

Do we believe this?

Do I believe this? I think for a long time my view of the Heavenly Father was one of withholding. I thought he would withhold from me because it was good for my character, or I had disappointed him, or someone else deserved it more. It’s taken me time to move into the mindset where I firmly believe he wants to please me. He just wants to please me. Wow, this makes my relationship with my heavenly father a lot more enjoyable. Just like my time with my young daughters; it was more enjoyable for me when I was telling them “yes, I want to please you,” rather than a “no” or “come back later” or “just a minute.”

I often wonder why it is such a struggle to stay on the side of believing our heavenly father wants to please us. But, when I take time to explore it, I remember Adam and Eve and their interaction with the serpent in the Garden of Eden. The serpent so brilliantly planted the seed of doubt in their minds: “Your God doesn’t want to please you, he’s holding out on you by telling you not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.” He caused Adam and Eve to begin to mistrust God’s good intentions for them. His strategy worked so well, he’s been using it on the rest of humanity ever since!

So, you may ask, how do we begin to experience our heavenly father showering us with good gifts provided for our enjoyment?

First, experience his love through getting to know him better as your daddy. Spend time in Psalms 103, Romans 8, 1^st John and Psalm 139. Go to a location where you feel most alive. If you love to be in nature, take a hike and meditate on one of the passages along the way. If you are contemplative, put on some soothing music and read the Scriptures slowly, letting God’s love pour over you. If you are an activist, consider how you can convey God’s character to those around you who need to hear “good news.”

Second, begin to pray. But, don’t just make it a long laundry list you spout out occasionally at God. No, begin to be very specific, consistent and unified in your prayers. These three concepts will literally begin to unfold God’s delight in answering our heart’s desires.

When I pray, I often set timelines for when I’d like God to answer. Some people have commented they think it’s demanding to ask this way, but I disagree. When we pray specifically with timelines, we can be even more positive it’s God’s answer. When we are in the process of discovering God’s delight in answering, it helps to build our faith and to recognize his work amongst us.

I love this example. Our house was on the market in preparation for our move to California. Our new house was set to close on November 17^th, so I prayed for a contract in hand by Nov 15^th before we closed on our new loan. The whole week leading up to November 15^th, not one person came to look at our house. I kept telling God, “It’s getting close, don’t you want to bring a new person to look?” I like to say, “God is the God of just in time” because he often likes to wait until the last minute just to make his answer even more tangible and dramatic.

Well, it turns out that we didn’t get just one offer on November 15^th, we got 4! One offer came from traveler in China who got up in the middle of the night to call their realtor. When we signed a contract for purchase of our present home in our kitchen at 3:25 on November 15^th and literally walked around the corner to our living room at 3:30 to close the loan on our new house, I was fully aware of God’s smile as he looked at me and said, “See, you didn’t need to worry, the answer was always on its way.”

Pray Specifically!

Pray Consistently. I continue to encourage those around me to set their alarms to go off at 10:02 a.m. every day. The reason? Jesus taught his 72 friends to pray for harvesters because the harvest is ready in Luke 10:2. Luke 10:1 tells us Jesus’ strategy was to send his friends out two by two to the places he intended to go. It’s the same with us. He sends us out in prayer to prepare the way for where he wants to show up and show off!

The third aspect to discover God’s delight in answering our prayers is to do it with others in unity and community. When we make a decision to pray together at the same time, wherever we are, when the alarm goes off, we know we aren’t on this journey alone, but we have fellow travelers who are praying with us for God’s answers! When we get a spectacular answer like the one we received for the contract on our house, it’s so much to share it with our friends who are praying too! It’s just like Jesus sending us out two by two to prepare the way for his coming.

Jesus told us “When two or three are gathered together, I am in their midst.” This promise applies to us even if we aren’t literally in the same location. When we are gathered through our commitment to pray at 10:02, Jesus is there, preparing the answers for us.

Last week my sister came to help me unpack our new home. When the alarm went off at 10:02 she cried out, “Time to pray for the harvest.” Even though she doesn’t live by me, she knew about the prayer because she had just been with her son who also prays at 10:02. We stopped our unpacking for a couple of minutes, prayed for a harvest in my new neighborhood, and then went back to work.

The father’s invitation is here for you to know him as a generous and loving Papa who wants to please us. Put my challenge to pray specifically, consistently and in unity and community to the test!

Start the challenge through considering what would fulfill your heart’s desire. Is it a visit to see your grown children? A trip with your family? A promotion at work? A meaningful conversation with a neighbor? A medical issue healed? Nothing is too big for our heavenly father.

Next, set your alarm to go off at 10:02 every day. When the alarm goes off, pray your specific prayer, every day. Invite your friends or family to pray with you at 10:02. If you are with others at 10:02, stop and invite them to pray with you. If you are in a business meeting or in a place where it isn’t appropriate to stop and pray out loud, take a moment in your mind and pray; then, re-engage what you were doing.

I can’t wait to hear your answers to prayer. Post them on the blog, or send them to me at tamara@missiolux.org. We have a heavenly father who can’t wait to hear from us!

Advent Reflections: God with us: the Rest of the Story

2011-12-21T09:02:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite Christmas carols is “Emmanuel.” My family will tell you that I have one version that I blast around the house during the month of December. They are spared this year since we are moving and I haven’t gotten the CD out; I think they are grateful!

Emmanuel means “God with us.” We sing about this reality, we celebrate it at Christmas, we reflect on what it means. However, there is so much more to the story . . .it spans all of history as well as pointing us to eternity. I don’t believe our Heavenly Father wants us to stop with “God with us.” He has so much more for us; so if you are willing to accept the mission…read on!

God Present to One Person:

Abraham is one who experienced God. He had several encounters with God; the first being told to go “to an unknown land which I will show you.” Imagine having to go home to Sarah to tell her the news: “we are moving….where? ….not sure yet, we have to pack up and start moving and then we will know.” Probably wasn’t the best conversation in the world! Abraham’s next encounter involved being told he would have a son in his old age. When Abraham was 99 years old, the Lord appeared and created a covenant with him; he would become the father of a multitude of nations. Finally, his last encounter with God came with great sacrifice. Abraham was to take his long awaited son and put him on the altar. All together Abraham personally experienced God’s presence four times in his long life.

In this period of time, out of all humanity, one man experienced God four times in his life.

God Present to a Nation:

God was present in a cloud and fire to the Israelites after they are delivered from Egypt. Even so, only Moses and Joshua were able to go up the mountain to meet with God. When the Tabernacle was built, God’s specific instruction was for one priest to meet him in the Holy of Holies one time per year. His presence to the whole nation was still limited.

Emmanuel: God with Us:

Almost five hundred years later, Israel’s long awaited Messiah appeared. Jesus, the baby born in a manger in Bethlehem, came in fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy: “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and name him Emmanuel: God with us.” Is 7:14.

When Jesus was about to be crucified, he told his disciples, “It is best for me to go away because when I do, the counselor, the Holy Spirit will come.” (author’s paraphrase: John 16:7)

Jesus was God in flesh living amongst humanity.

The Rest of the Story:

If the story stopped at this point, we still have much to celebrate. However, there is much more to God’s story with us. The heavenly Father sent Jesus to model for us how we live on earth in a human body, but with the realization it is no longer just God with us, but it is now God in us.

God in us is the mystery kept hidden for all history. At Pentecost, everything changed. The disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit, their bodies instantly becoming the Holy of Holies, the place reserved for one priest to enter one time per year.

Imagine this: throughout the ages, God was present with one man, he was present with a nation, he was even present through his son on earth, but today he is present in us.

We carry the living God with us. We are tabernacles which brightly reflect the glory of the Lord: when the angels rejoice in the heavens at Jesus’ birth, they were a prophetic sign for our present reality: God in us.

We celebrate Jesus birth because he came to show us how to live as God in us. He taught us how to see and hear the Father’s voice and direction (John 5:19). He modeled for us the rhythmic pattern of life through moving between abiding and bearing fruit (John 15). He equipped us to go and do the things he did. He sent us to go and proclaim the kingdom of God is near (Luke 9:1-2). He taught us the road of sacrifice through his willingness to lay down his life so others, this includes us, could have life through his death (John 12:32).

We have everything we need to live as Jesus did. He lives in us! So, this Christmas season as you sing “Emmanuel” and celebrate God with us, remember our true reality is “God in us.”

When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. Ephesians 1:13b-14

Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? 1 Cor 6:19

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. 2 Cor 3:18

Advent Reflections: "Saying Yes to the Unknown"

2011-12-09T15:06:00.000-08:00

It happens to all of us. We go through our daily life, moving in our regular routine, when all of the sudden God breaks through and changes our direction: sometimes so dramatically it leaves us breathless and in great awe as we ponder what God is doing in our midst.

This is called a “Kairos Moment.” Kairos is the Greek word for when time stands still and God breaks through. All of our Bible heroes experienced them: Abraham did when God told him to go to a "land which I will show you." Moses did when he experienced the burning bush and a call to return to Pharaoh’s palace to set the Israelites free. David did when he was called out of shepherding sheep into leading a nation as king. The prophet Ezekiel did when the Lord called him to speak to a valley of dead bones which became an army of living people.

Mary, mother of Jesus, also experienced a kairos moment when the angel Gabriel met her in her village of Nazareth. She was most likely in the barn milking the cows, or tending to the sheep, when Angel Gabriel showed up and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you.”

Mary was confused and disturbed. She didn’t consider herself a woman yet; she was most likely 14 or 15 years old. She had no clue she was favored: she saw herself as from the lower class of life as she was poor, a woman, and part of the Israelite culture oppressed by the Romans for decades.

But, God isn’t concerned with our viewpoints of ourselves. He identifies us through the lense as his beloved children with a purpose to help redeem all of creation in the world. The Angel Gabriel spoke out God’s identity for Mary: one who was favored to conceive, carry through pregnancy, and birth the Messiah to the world for all time.

Mary was never the same when she entered into the land of the unknown by agreeing to God’s outrageous plan. It didn’t come without a cost. She had to face shame and rejection by her fiancé, her family and her village. As a matter of fact, I believe the reason there was no room for Joseph and Mary in the inn was because her reputation as an unwed pregnant woman had preceded their arrival.

So, instead of a birthing room or a hospital, the baby Messiah was born in a smelly stable amidst the animals he had created in the beginning of the world. It’s a picture of God’s upside down priorities. He takes the least likely situation and makes it extraordinary.

I am currently living in the space of the unknown. I experienced a kairos moment late this summer when Bill’s company told us we needed to consolidate our two locations of Seattle and San Francisco into one. They told us we had some time to make the move, however, so when I prayed I expected to hear God say we should move at the end of the ministry year next June.

But, instead, I heard him say, “Go now.” So, like Mary who responded with "May it be to you as you have said," so in other words, YES!, I did the same. I told God, "Yes, I will do what you asked." When I gave him my yes, I was given great peace and joy and a day where everything in life seemed multiplied with goodness.

The next day we put everything in motion; telling our daughters and Missio Lux, putting our house on the market, and coming to California to discern our new location.

Kairos moments are not usually easy to walk out. They take courage and determination to follow God into the unknown. Right now, I am sitting in Bill’s apartment in San Francisco, waiting to go up to our new home 50 miles north in Santa Rosa, while we continue to make arrangements to leave our home in Seattle. I vacillate between feeling great sadness in leaving my middle daughter, our wonderful house, and our friends in Missio Lux and the community, with the anticipation of what God is going to do with us through our new life in California.

Where are you experiencing a kairos moment? Where are you observing something unexpected happening? Where is God surprising you with a direction you didn’t expect to go? Where are you being challenged to live into the unknown?

How are you responding? Is it with a “yes God,” or is it with fear and doubt? I just returned from the 3dm Learning Community which equips leaders to lead integrated lives of discipleship and mission. As we invited people into the journey of discovering a lifestyle of integrated discipleship, I saw many present responding with a lot of apprehension about the shift it would involve for their churches and their leadership. As I processed their kairos invitation, I realized once again the cost to following Jesus versus the cost of staying in the familiar.

It’s hard to leave the world of the known. We are often tempted to stay in the place of the familiar, even when deep down we know it really isn’t working for us, but it seems too hard to move into the land of disequilibrium to change it.

However, if we want to become one of God’s heroes for this particular segment of history, we MUST pay attention when we experience a kairos moment which takes us into the land of the unknown. We must courageously walk toward the burning bush, observe what is taking place, reflect on what it means and talk to those we trust in relationship about how to respond.

When we do this, we can lead lives like Moses, who had the opportunity to lead an entire nation of millions of people out of slavery. We can be like David who led a nation into times of peace and prosperity. We can be like Ezekiel who saw dead bones come to life. We can become like Mary who received the greatest invitation to partner with God to birth his son Jesus.

I anticipate becoming one of God’s heroes. I am willing to make the adjustments to God’s kairos moments in my life, so I can live fully aligned with his purposes for me. I don’t know fully what the next segment of my life will include, but I have confidence that if I follow the Shepherds voice (John 10), I will have the opportunity to discover the abundant life Jesus promises.

I also think God considers the people of Missio Lux Seattle heroes as they follow God into the unknown over and over again, as he continues to surprise us with his unique ways and purposes. These faith filled people continue the journey of the unknown because they don’t want to miss anything Jesus intends for them to experience.
Please pray for our family as we move to Santa Rosa, CA right after Christmas and for Missio Lux Seattle as we make the faith filled adjustment to living life together in different locations.

My prayer for you is for you to observe your kairos moments and to have the courage to take the next step to discover the invitation God is giving you within it. In the meantime, consider God’s heroes and how they partnered with God for some of the biggest opportunities throughout the history of the world.

Seek first his Kingdom: a Posture of Thankfulness

2011-11-22T11:41:00.000-08:00

It’s fun to see all the facebook postings of “thankfulness messages” this week. This is the season we are reminded to stop and give thanks for the blessings we experience in life. It’s good to have this season, but I wonder, what would the world be if everyone of us followed Paul’s admonition to live a life of thanksgiving.? How does a posture of thanksgiving for all things change us, and the atmosphere around us?

1^st Thessalonians 5:16: “Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”

Three short phrases. Simple, really:

Be joyful.

Pray continually

Give thanks for everything.

I memorized this Scripture as a child, so I’ve known it for a long time. But, I am only recently learning to live it out. I am discovering knowing how to recite it and walking it out in daily life are two very different realities!

The first phrase “be joyful” can only be done in relationship with our Heavenly Father.

Joy is something we can’t manufacture. We can create happiness through our circumstances, but joy comes from the inner place of our spirit when all is right with the world. Do you ever have those moments when you just know that joy is present? I had one a couple of days ago when I was editing my book. As I listened to moving music and anticipated how God would use the book, I felt my heart burst with joy over the privilege of participating with God in conveying his message of “good news” to his people about our true identity.

The second phrase “pray continually” is a posture of how we live our days.

I used to get so hung up on this thinking “there’s no way I can pray all the time.” I am realizing, however, it’s more about how we live our days. Are we relying on ourselves and our own abilities to get things done? Or, are we committing what we are doing at this moment to the Lord and inviting him into it? I started to get overwhelmed when I started writing today, and when I realized it, I stopped and invited Jesus into the process. Once I did this, he joined me and my writing became much more joyful and fulfilling. It’s no longer something to rush through in order to finish my list on this short work week, it’s a journey with my friend who is delighted with the message

The final phrase “give thanks for everything” ends with a qualifier “for this is God’s will for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

A couple of things here: the first is I used to think that everything that happens to us is the “God’s will for us”….but that thought doesn’t line up with tragedy, destruction, illness, war, poverty, those things that definitely aren’t found in heaven, so it’s not God’s will for earth.

What I now understand is the “God’s will for us” is to live in the posture of thankfulness, which leads us to continual prayer, and results in joy!

Thankfulness brings us freedom.

I wrote earlier about the challenges we hit regarding the purchase of our new home. Despite the impossibility of the situation, when I started thanking God for them, I was freed up emotionally and able to pray in faith, which resulted in God’s tangible presence which brought me joy. I will never forget the power of that day. When everything fell apart around us, we were given peace and joy. Romans 14:17 tells us “the kingdom of God is not eating or drinking, but righteousness, peace and joy.”

The eating and drinking represent our earthly needs….paradoxically when we look heavenward, we find peace and joy despite what is taking place around us on earth!

I want to conclude with a story I heard Mike Breen (www.weare3dm.co) tell at a Learning Community. On a trip to Africa, he found himself very ill in a small village far away from any hospitals. Mike was so sick the doctor told him he was going to die. As he laid on a cot two feet too short for him, far away from any family, he heard the Lord tell him to “thank him.” Mike asked him what to thank God for in his situation. He heard God say, “Start with the nurse taking care of you.”

So, Mike began to thank God for the nurse, for the hut, for the short bed, for the village, for anything he could think of in his very sick state. After about an hour of thanking God, he realized his fever had broken. Within a few hours, they were able to feed him some broth. Within 24 hours, he was completely well.

One day he was dying all alone in an African village. The next day he was totally healed.

How did this happen?

It came about through the posture of thankfulness, which caused him to pray continually, which brought not just his spirit joy, but his body health.

How about you?

What are you thankful for?

It’s a good time to get started in living a posture of thankfulness as we see it all around us. My next door neighbor, Nancy, is celebrating her birthday with a month of 50 random acts of kindness. She is learning the posture of thankfulness, which leads to peace and joy! She is also inspiring those around her to learn the joy of a life shared freely with others.

Take some time this week to make a list of everything you can think of as you thank your loving Heavenly Father. Repeat the list out loud. Do it again the following day. I encourage you to do this for 40 days throughout the entire holiday season.

At the end, ask yourself, “Was I able to live this holiday season with greater joy, peace and connection with my Father?” My guess is that the answer is yes because when we align with the way we were created to live, the outcome is God’s supernatural gifts of peace, joy, hope and love!

I think I will start now….

1. I am thankful for you. Happy Thanksgiving!

Raise Up Your Staff: Missio Lux Moves Forward!

2011-11-17T08:05:00.000-08:00

In many ways, it feels as if Missio Lux is pressed up against the water's edge, just like the Israelites after they were miraculously delivered from Egypt! They literally had nowhere to go, but instead of being defeated, they walked through a sea which supernaturally parted for their crossing.

We have a moving date now; we are moving at the end of December! Watch for my future blog where I describe the miraculous way God has moved to answer our prayers for our home to continue to be a beacon of light, welcome and hospitality for his kingdom!

When I asked the Lord to show me the most important things to do before I move, he was clear to show me we needed to do a process of discernment and prayer. So, we set two nights to gather, discern and pray.

Our first was Sunday when we asked the Lord to show an areas where we needed to repent, open entry points where the thief is able to sneak through a door, and sins made against us. We took communion and prayed for repentance for the areas we discerned through the evening.

Last night many of us gathered to pray specifically for repentence and breakthrough. It was exciting to me to see how we humbled ourselves, prayed and sought God's face, as we trusted him to hear from heaven, forgive our sin and heal our land (2nd Chronicles 7:14).

It was also good for us to gather from our different missio communities to come together to pray. The unity in the room was palpable; the desire for God to do more amongst us increasing as our prayers of faith rose up to believe God to part the waters so we can walk through, and our enemy the thief, is drowned in the sea.

When people hear I am moving to another state, their first question is "What's going to happen to Missio Lux?" However, instead of distress, we hear the Lord saying, "This is my finest hour. Watch and see what I do...."

We are expectant. We are watching, waiting and listening...as we raise up our staff like Moses for the sea to part.

Seek first his Kingdom: the Treasure of a Good Foundation

2011-11-15T16:50:00.000-08:00

It’s been interesting to watch the “Occupy Movement.” I have been fascinated by how quickly it has spread, as well as their passion and the organization they have for the simple tasks of living: cooking, trash removal, and . . . protesting! The Occupy Movement is highlighting an inequity that exists between the wealthy and the poor, as we slowly watch the middle class disappear.

Jesus spoke to crowds who also experienced the vast difference between the wealthy and the poor. . .no middle class existed in his day. The wealthy had power; the poor were powerless. Jesus was brilliant in his ability turn things upside down….and money and power were one of his favorite topics as he revealed how shallow they truly are in comparison to his kingdom come.

Remember, in his message about priorities Jesus told us to “seek first God’s kingdom and to set things right, and then everything else would fall into place.” The apostle Paul heard Jesus right. He wrote a moving letter to his disciple Timothy where he concludes the letter with a passage about priorities in finances:

1^st Tim 6:17-19: “As for those who in this present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life.”

Think about it. How many times a day do we receive the message that if we “get a better job,” we will have a better life? Or, if we buy the latest car, outfit, cell phone or computer, we will have a better life? We have these messages coming at us over and over all day long, especially now when we are so connected to technology.

Paul tells us not to focus on the uncertainty of riches. It’s a great message for today as we watch the stock market jump all around and the selling price of our homes continue to plunge. Paul encourages us to “set out hopes on God who richly provides everything for our enjoyment.”

I guess I wonder if we really believe that God wants to provide things for our enjoyment. I find that when I dig with people, we often have a mindset which believes God wants us to take less, to be less content in life, that suffering is where he wants us to focus. God is teaching me, however, that he does like to surprise his children with gifts….just as we like to do for our own children.

Today we are signing the loan papers on our new house. It’s a big faith leap for us in trusting God’s provision to do this before our own house is sold. My prayer for weeks has been for us to have a contract in hand before we signed the papers. Last week not one person looked at our house….so the circumstances didn’t point towards getting a contract. But, God is the God of surprises, and last night our realtor called with news of a contract for our house. God is a God of “just in time” because today we signed the offer papers in our kitchen with our realtor and immediately walked into our living room to sign our loan papers for our new home in California!

While I was writing this reflection, Brad called me. He has been out of work for awhile…and in his time of reflection, he realized that he was no longer content to continue to the status quo; he knew he wanted to give his life to something greater. He is pursuing a position with World Vision where he would help retail stores carry their message of provision to a hurting world. He told me, “I’ve made a conscious decision to give my life to a cause where I am helping serve people, making a difference in the world.”

Brad is listening to Jesus’ priorities. He has discovered that when he aligns his life to “seek first God’s kingdom, and his righteousness, the all things comes into place.” I read him the 1^st Timothy passage which ends with “taking hold of the life that really is life.” Brad agreed with it; saying his time of unemployment had helped to clarify his true heart.

Retreat does that. When we take steps away from our regular life and listen, being quiet and in solitude, we hear God’s heart more clearly. His desire is for us “to live the life that really is life.” I love that.

From the beginning of time, our enemy has lied to us that God is holding out on us. He twists the truth to make us think that the fruit on another tree is better for us, when in reality, the Tree of Life stands before us, beckoning us to eat from it each and every day.

When we remove ourselves from the tempting messages, we begin to get clarity on what’s truly important. Jesus tells us “to love God and others, and then to go and multiply God’s message to others”, resulting in disciples who go and do the same. Paul tells us in 1^st Timothy when we set our hopes on God who richly provides everything for our enjoyment, we are able to “do good, be rich in good works, generous and ready to share.”

When we move in rhythm with how we were created, to follow after God’s ways, we are building a foundation of the hidden treasure which enables us to take hold of the life that really is life.

So, how about you?

Where are you tempted to follow the way of the world?

Where are you misaligned in your priorities?

Where do you find yourselves frustrated and iscontent?

The answers to these questions will start you on the journey of discovery on how to build your life on the foundation of the life which is truly life: a life spent pursuing seeking God’s kingdom, his righteousness and trusting him for the “all things” to fall into place.

I encourage you to find some space for some retreat, a time of solitude. Sit down and journal your answers to the questions above, and meditate on Paul’s words to Timothy; his clues for a life worth living!

Experiencing the Egyptian Aftermath of the Massacre October 9th

2011-11-10T05:00:00.000-08:00

Laurie is one of the major leaders in Missio Lux. She has been my vision partner since the inception of Missio Lux; meaning that we meet together weekly to dream about the future and plan for the present. Laurie is extremely gifted and intelligent. She currently attends Bakke Graduate University, http://www.bgu.edu/, whose mission is to "Develop Christ centered leaders who change global cities."

As part of their curriculum, they require students to go on an intensive trip in some of the most challenging locations on the globe. Laurie chose to go to the Middle East this October. She began to get nervous as the date for departure drew near; especially with all the volatility in the Middle East this year.

She had reason to be wary. The groups' first stop was in Cairo, Egypt right in the middle of the massacre October 9th.

Her group of Bakke students actually ended up staying in the Coptic Christian Bishop's home, as well as being present at a meeting with the Coptic Pope where the families of the Copts who were killed came and vented their grief and outrage.

It is often hard to get reliable press coverage; leaving us wondering what to believe at times. Take a few minutes to watch this short (1:22) video and read the text that accompanies it. It is important to know how our fellow brothers and sisters around the world are being treated.

http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2011/oct/16/massacre-cairo/

Laurie has many stories to tell about her trip, including sharing about Jesus followers who risk their lives to share God's love by serving their communities. I will make sure to link all her blog posts to this sight so we don't miss out on her observations and reflections.

Take a moment now to pray for the Coptic Christians in Egypt; for their protection, courage, perseverance and wisdom. Amen.

Seek first his Kingdom: Raise Up Your Staff"

2011-11-08T11:38:00.000-08:00

Last week we heard some very discouraging news regarding our move to California. Many of the finances we were counting on disappeared; and the time to move forward with the new house was immediate. I went to pray; to ask the Lord to show us what to do. What’s taken place has been one of the greatest faith lessons of our lives.

The next day, I heard the words “pressed up against the water’s edge” out of the blue. I knew the Lord was directing me to the passage in Exodus 14 about the Israelites, recently released into freedom from Egypt, in the desert as they watched the Egyptian army chase them down. They were trapped on both sides: the Red Sea and the Egyptian army.

The Israelites cried out to Moses in accusation: “Did you just bring us out to this desert to become a cemetery of death?” Moses, being strong in his identity as a representative for God, calmly told them, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and today you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

After Moses made his declaration, it’s implied that Moses then turned around and said pretty much the Israelites message to the Lord. But, the Lord told him, “Stop crying out to me. Raise up your staff over the waters so they divide. The Israelites can walk through on dry ground. I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so they go in after them. And I will gain glory, so that everyone knows that I am the Lord!”

Raise up your staff. What does this mean? How can we translate it to our own lives?

God gave Moses the staff when he called him at the burning bush to go and confront Pharaoh. The staff was important to Moses’ life as a shepherd. However, when God gave it back to him, it was something else. It was meant for his role as one who reigns with God, and has his authority to call forth God’s will and his supernatural power to reign over nature. Over and over we hear of the plagues that were released through Moses into Egypt to bring them into a place of humility to God’s plan and purposes.

God replaced Moses’ identity as a shepherd and told him that “I AM” is with you. “Because ‘I AM’ is with you; you are my representative to seek first my kingdom. My ways will come forth for the people of my heart.” Moses was being called not to hide in a desert in fear any longer, but to go and fight for the freedom of God’s beloved people, the Israelites.

We are to do the same. We are to go and fight for the people God created; keeping our back to the enemy so we don’t back down in fear, our eyes focused on our Deliverer, who has the power to part the water!

How did we practically walk out the challenge before us?

First, we didn’t back out of our contract to buy the house in CA. We believe God led us to this house and he wants it for our new life together and for his kingdom purposes. We kept our eyes on the Deliverer.

We asked people to pray for us. We didn’t try to walk through the battle alone.

We began to thank God for the challenges. Despite all the chaos swirling around us, as soon as we started thanking God, peace came. It is the peace that is clearly supernatural and not defined by our circumstances.

We raised our staff by praying in the spiritual authority given to us by Jesus. We followed the pattern of the Lord’s prayer by praying for “God’s will to be done on earth as it is heaven.”

We also called the angelic army to go and fight the battle for us. God is always the God of just in time; so just hours before we had to wire a substantial sum of money for escrow, we got word that we would have enough finances to move forward.

We moved forward in faith. We didn’t have all the answers then, and we don’t have all the answers now. We do have, however, the confirmation of Exodus 14 five different ways. Over and over in the anxious days of waiting, we were given this word from the Lord. They came in various ways: through the words out of the blue, “pressed up against the water’s edge,” an email from an intercessor with a teaching of Exodus 14, prayers prayed by two young women who saw the waters and the army coming after us, a daily Scriptural reading, and finally my Bible falling open to it when I picked it up.

Coincidence? No, as we begin to know the language God speaks to us by, we begin to recognize that repitition is one of his greatest ways to show us his plan.

Was it easy? No, it was very hard. Walking in faith is truly living “sure of what we hope for and certain of what we cannot see.” Hebrews 11:6

Was it worth it? Yes, because we are now walking in a greater level of faith which gives us confidence for the next test. We have a testimony now. We can tell the stories over and over how God parted the waters for us to walk through to the other side.

Let’s remember our theme for the year, “Seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness, and all things shall be added to you.”

To seek first God’s kingdom is align our lives with his heavenly kingdom reigning on earth. This is not a cool Sunday School story, this involves real life action to which we have the ability to respond with a “yes, I am in, “or a “no, too hard, I am out.”

God’s righteousness is to “partner with him to set things right.” Moses partnered with God to set right the Israelites freedom. We partnered with God to set things right regarding our next stage of life and ministry.

And, all things shall be added onto you. When we align our lives to seek first God’s kingdom, we can trust his promise to “provide the necessary aspects of our lives,” which includes food to eat, clothes to wear, and houses to live in.

Where are you pressed up against the water’s edge? Get out your staff and begin to experience the power which flows from it as you trust the Deliverer to see your faith and to part the waters. Victory is yours. The King is calling you as his kingdom partner to help set his beloved people free from their slavery.

Seek first his Kingdom: Choosing between Faith and Fear

2011-10-27T05:00:00.000-07:00

The Buchan family has a lot happening right now: we are seeking to move to a new location in Santa Rosa, California so that Bill can stop commuting weekly from Seattle to San Francisco. Our daughters live in Seattle, Chicago and London so this adds another location to our already very spread out life. I am leading Missio Lux through an important transition as together we discover how to continue to be faithful in God’s call for us to be a “dispersed faith community.” I am also getting close to finishing the editing process of the Identity Book I wrote earlier this year; it should be out in print in early December.

I went through a period a few weeks ago where I was so overwhelmed I could barely get up in the morning. I felt fearful, stressed out and anxious about how I was going to be able to do all that was in front of me.

I began to ask myself, however, how I could walk out the very thing I was encouraging you to do: “to seek first God’s kingdom.” The Lord was faithful to show me the way to do this and I’d like to share it with you. I hope it will be helpful to an area of your life where you feel overwhelmed, or out of balance.

The first step is to examine priorities. What’s more important? Are you worshiping Jesus or the problem? In other words, what’s occupying more of your thoughts: the challenge or the answer to the challenge? Make a decision to focus your thoughts on God’s ability to do the impossible. The angel told Mary that “nothing is impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37). It takes a lot of repetition to change your brain pattern but over time you will find it much easier to find the right focus: on the Provider not the problem!

The second step is to incorporate a posture of celebration and thankfulness. Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 5:16 to “Be joyful always, pray all the time, and give thanks for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” When we make a decision from our will to thank God for the challenges, it takes us out of our place of worry and fear. Our decision to trust God with our problem actually frees God up to move to answer our dilemma. I find the more that I thank God for the challenges, the sooner I get to peace!

We found an amazing house in Santa Rosa. We felt confident that we be able to buy the house as there had been very little activity on it. We were sad to discover that another buyer came in and bid for it the same day we did. I got so stressed thinking the house may not be ours. It wasn’t until a couple of anxious days later as we waited to hear their decision that I decided to come outside my emotions, and with my will thank God for the challenge. When I did, everything changed. Amazingly, the timing of my decision to thank God and the owners choice was at the same time! The owners picked us saying, “We know they are the ones meant to have this house.”

The next step after examining our priorities and developing a posture of life full of thankfulness is to follow Scripture. Paul outlined an excellent process to the church of Philippi in the fourth chapter:

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. ⁷ Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Phil 4:6-7

There it is:

Don’t worry: pray instead: the priority! Focus on the provider rather than the problem.

Tell God your needs and thank him for the challenge, developing your life of faith as you wait for God to bring the answer.

Remember the ways God has worked in the past and speak them to others. This will build your faith and remove all fear from your thoughts!

Develop your life of testimony: review the ways in which God has been faithful to you! We have a testimony now about our future house in Santa Rosa; if we wouldn’t have walked through the challenge, we wouldn’t have known that it truly was the house God intended for us to have.

The outcome: peace which goes beyond any circumstance. The word guard here means to “prevent hostile invasion.” The Lord guards our heart from the hostile invasion from the thief who comes to rob, steal and destroy us. God does the opposite: he gives us the life of heaven that we were meant to experience in the Garden before the fall.

The valuable outcome of this process is that our life of faith is built so that the next challenge becomes less daunting. I am able to say that I am at rest and peace right now despite all that is happening around me because I have a list of testimonies for how God has worked in other impossible situations to bring about my best; and his best, the kingdom come!

Romans 14:17 says this, “For the kingdom of God is not eating or drinking, but righteousness, peace and joy!”

Righteousness: things being set right as we are in right relationship, peace and joy.

There it is again, the priority: it’s not about acquiring the needs the Father already knows we need: it’s about seeking first his kingdom; which gives us righteousness, peace and joy.

It’s the treasure the whole world is seeking!

Vision for "Identity Crisis: Reclaim the True You!"

2011-10-25T10:50:00.000-07:00

Now that "Identity Crisis: Reclaim the True You" is written, what are the different options for how it can be used to help pull people out of an identity crisis and into the place of walking in fulfillment of God's plan for our lives?

The possibilities are quite endless!

"Identity Crisis: Reclaim the True You" is an interesting read, and will open up minds to a way to a different lifestyle. However, just reading it will only go so far in helping change a lifetime of thinking and behavior. The book will be most effective in bringing peace and joy and a fulfilling life when the material in the book is interacted with, both individually and in groups.

Therefore, I have designed a variety of ways to interact with the book:

       1. Each chapter ends with both reflection questions and experiences to reinforce the themes.

       2. The reader will be directed to an interactive website where the questions and experiences will be accompanied with opportunities for online conversation and support. (QR codes in the book will take those with iPhones directly to the website.)

        3.  Identity Crisis is designed to be a powerful book study which takes place over 10 weeks or more; readers can assemble their own groups to work through it, or existing groups may adopt it as their present study. The Scriptures, stories, reflections and experiences are transformational when explored in community.

       4.  Some readers may find the book most effective as they work through the content individually at a pace that gives them time to fully integrate the themes found in the book.

       5. I am also available to lead groups through the material in a variety of ways:

                     a. Weekend Retreats are excellent in taking "set apart time" to process the themes in the book and to process it in community with others. These retreats can be either gender focused or done with both men and women.

                    b. Identity Workshops are one day gatherings which will focus on the two main themes found in Romans 8:14-17: we are beloved adopted children of God, and our inheritance of being co-heirs to Christ as we partner with him to bring his kingdom purposes to earth.

                    c. One topic talks from the 10 different identity concepts presented in the book: these talks can be sermons, one time presentations, or presented at conferences or seminars.

                    d. Book studies done over a series of weeks in locations convenient to where I live.

I am also developing a blog, facebook page and twitter to communicate the themes of Identity Crisis on an ongoing basis! Watch for all of this to come out in the next few weeks as we prepare for the first printing of the book coming out in early December! (the book will make great Christmas presents)

What are my dreams for how this book will make a difference?

I envision a scenario much like we find in Ezekiel 37. The Lord took Ezekiel to a valley of dry bones and he told Ezekiel what to say so the dry bones became a living, breathing army. We, as people, have become a valley of dry bones as we let the world define our identity. As we engage the truth of our god given identity, we begin to breathe again and find our destiny, the unique reason for our life on earth. As we reclaim our true identity from the wasteland of the dry bones, we discover our life on earth is fulfilling, joyful and full of peace!

Writing "Identity Crisis: Reclaim the True You!"

2011-10-23T11:04:00.000-07:00

Last January on one of my prayer days, I sensed the Lord calling me to write a book about identity. Within 30 minutes, I had an outline, a personal story, Scriptures, illustrations and biblical stories for every chapter.

I started to write it in mid-March, even though the only time that I could carve out for it as two to three hours on Friday morning. However, I made great progress, finishing half the book by mid June. My plan was to go to San Francisco for the month of July in hopes of finishing the whole book.

Amazingly, at the end of the three weeks that I stayed in San Francisco, I finished the manuscript. When I added up the amount of hours that I spent writing the book, I realized that I had written it in less than 100 hours. Wow! I knew I could only have written it through being empowered by God's Spirit.

We don't often get to experience something so powerful in the Spirit, but I can honestly say that writing this book has been one of the most thrilling experiences in my life. Some days I felt like Jesus was right next to me, giving me the words to write, as well as expressing his pleasure about its progress.

Before I left San Francisco, I sensed the Lord urging me to work towards getting it published by the end of 2011. I gulped and thought that timeline seemed a bit impossible. I know people spend years seeking to get their books published.

Once again, the Lord was present showing the way. When I asked those who committed to pray for me to pray for direction for a publisher, my parents gave me a name. When I prayed about it, I sensed the Lord's pleasure on it.

When I approached them about it, www.tendrilpress.com, they were willing to by pass the submission process and take it on. They agreed to have it published by early December.

Wow! I got the call to write the book in January, started working on it in March, finished writing in July, and now am moving towards the first printing in November.

When I asked the question about the rapid way that this book came together, I sensed the Lord respond, "My people are discouraged and distracted because they don't know the truth about who they are, what I created them to do, and how to walk out their true identity that I gave them."

In other words, we are in an identity crisis: letting the world or our own thoughts define our identity. The word "reclaim" means to take back that which has been wasteland and make it productive again. This is what God wants to do in our lives: to reclaim the wasteland of our identity and to make it reflect the true glory that he deposited into us; his beloved children!

Read my next blog for ways that "Identity Crisis: Reclaim the True You" can be used to help us all live into the places for which we were created!

Reflections on the Kingdom of God: What are We Working For?

2011-10-20T05:00:00.000-07:00

Our daughter, Molly, was home from Chicago this weekend. On the way home from the airport, she brought up the “Occupy” movement. She wondered why there was so little press about what was taking place. It seems pretty important to her.

Seattle has had pretty extensive press because we are a city that likes our freedom to express ourselves. We have a history of demonstrations, the one in 1999 with the World Trade Organization as perhaps most famous. Even our mayor seems in sympathy with those gathered at Westlake; it seems he has even given up wanting to arrest them for violating the park permit of no sleep overs!

I find it interesting that even those walking into their buildings on Wall Street seem sympathetic with the protesters. So, if they are sympathetic, who are the oppressors?

I am once again reminded that the Bible is a timeless book and that nothing new comes under the sun. I read Haggai today and felt like the prophet Haggai could be here today giving the same message to us. So, what is it?

Let’s read most of the first chapter from the Message:

²A Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies: "The people procrastinate. They say this isn't the right time to rebuild my Temple, the Temple of God."

^3-4Shortly after that, God said more and Haggai spoke it: "How is it that it's the 'right time' for you to live in your fine new homes while the Home, God's Temple, is in ruins?"

^5-6And then a little later, God-of-the-Angel-Armies spoke out again:

"Take a good, hard look at your life.
Think it over.
You have spent a lot of money,
but you haven't much to show for it.
You keep filling your plates,
but you never get filled up.
You keep drinking and drinking and drinking,
but you're always thirsty.
You put on layer after layer of clothes,
but you can't get warm.
And the people who work for you,
what are they getting out of it?
Not much—
a leaky, rusted-out bucket, that's what.

⁷That's why God-of-the-Angel-Armies said:

"Take a good, hard look at your life.
Think it over."

^8-9Then God said:

"Here's what I want you to do:
Climb into the hills and cut some timber.
Bring it down and rebuild the Temple.
Do it just for me. Honor me.
You've had great ambitions for yourselves,
but nothing has come of it.
The little you have brought to my Temple
I've blown away—there was nothing to it.

^9-11"And why?" (This is a Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, remember.) "Because while you've run around, caught up with taking care of your own houses, my Home is in ruins. That's why. Because of your stinginess. And so I've given you a dry summer and a skimpy crop. I've matched your tight-fisted stinginess by decreeing a season of drought, drying up fields and hills, withering gardens and orchards, stunting vegetables and fruit. Nothing—not man or woman, not animal or crop—is going to thrive."

This message from God, through the Prophet Haggai, is about priorities. The people that returned from exile to Babylon made their priority about taking care of themselves first. They forgot about their identity as redeemed chosen people, and they focused on meeting their own needs. In the process, they worked hard but they had so little to show for it.

According to God, they were working, working, working but they only had a leaky, rusty bucket to show for it (verse 6). It seems they were going in circles, never getting to their desired destination because they were on the wrong path.

They were experiencing extreme frustration because they were “taking care of their own houses while they forgot about building God’s house.” This was the very reason that they were given permission to come back to Jerusalem. How quickly they forgot their unique call. As they continued their futile pursuit, God reminded them that “he’s matched their tight-fisted stinginess by decreeing a season or drought: nothing, not man or woman, not animal or crop, is going to thrive” (verses 9-11).

Don’t you think that this sounds familiar? How many of us worked hard to save money only to see it wiped away in a day or two in the stock market? How many of us put gas in our cars, only to see our hard earned money disappear at an alarming rate in our engines? How many of us went to college to be trained for a vocation, only to find ourselves working at a job meant for a high school student?

We are going in circles. We are in a futile pursuit. We are exhausted and confused. Why can’t we get ahead?

Are we asking the right question?

Maybe a better question to ask is “What are our priorities?”

Jesus spent a good deal of time in his time on earth challenging priorities. The Sermon on the Mount is all about priorities. He ended his teaching with a challenge: “Will we build our house on the rock or on a sandy beach where any storm can take it down?”

Sound familiar? I hear an echo of God’s word through Haggai.

The words “Seek first My Kingdom and my righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” come to my mind.

There it is again. When we prioritize building God’s house, our own houses stand on a firm foundation that can’t be wiped away by any storm that comes our way.

So, what does it mean to build God’s house?

I like to think of it as the difference between a circle and a brick. When we have a circle of life and Jesus is in it, we have a house build on a sandy beach. When we have a brick; the rock of Jesus Christ on which everything else is built, we have a house standing on the firm foundation that will never fall.

What’s the difference between a life with Jesus in it and a life built on the rock?

It’s about priorities. Is Jesus first, or is he one of many priorities in our life?

Here’s my idea to find out where you stand. Spend a day or two being an observer or your thoughts and decisions. Recognize what you think about in those moments where your mind is allowed to wander: in traffic, or on the subway, or doing dishes. Are you thinking about how to get ahead or are you communing with your Creator? What are your first thoughts when you wake up or when you go to sleep?

Pay attention to your small decisions. Not the big ones, but the small ones. What will you do with the extra five minutes before your kids get home from school? Do you turn to the internet or to prayer or God’s word? How many times do you hit the snooze bar on the alarm before you get up? Has all your quiet time of reflection in the morning been eaten up so you face another day in a frenzy?

After you do your work of observation, read through the book of Haggai. Ask yourself the question, “Where is my priority? Am I building God’s house or my own house?” If your answer is my own house, spending time reflecting on the promise Jesus gives us in Matthew 6:33. When we seek first his kingdom and set things right within our relationship with him, all the “other things” are provided to us.

Then follow the way of God’s direction in Haggai. Go up into the hills and cut down some trees….which translated for the 21^st century is “Take a step.” Do something to give to the kingdom, to build up God’s house. Give your time, your money, your precious energy. And, as you do it, prepare yourself for the blessing that comes from building God’s

Occupy: Is it a Spider or a Starfish?

2011-10-18T11:00:00.000-07:00

I am not sure if you have read the book "The Starfish and the Spider: the Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations." The basic premise of the book is that if you cut the head of a spider, it will die, but if you cut off a leg of a starfish, it will grow back. It's quite an interesting concept, one that many terrorists cells have made good use of....

I have been watching the movement of "Occupy" with great interest. Yesterday, there was an article in the Seattle Times entitled, "Can Occupy protests last without leaders?" People debated back and forth as their opinions ranged from comments from a country sheriff in Minneapolis who wonders why each day the leaders are different people, and the protesters themselves who say that the decentralization is deliberate and this is how other movements have started up.

The academics are studying it and noting that leaderless organizations allow for people with very different backgrounds to to come together in a broad message without having to agree with a lot of fine details and sticking points.

Observations at the different camps are that the protesters have organized "work crews" and that people are demonstrating leadership, without needing to carry the title.

I find all this refreshing. I long for more of this movement in the church. We've had a lot of spiders, but not nearly enough starfishes.

I wonder what it would be like for people to gather because they KNOW their message of Jesus' redemptive work and resulting outcome of kingdom activity of healing, deliverance, provision, peace and unity is worth giving their lives to. How would this change the landscape of life and faith?

I wonder if we have trained Jesus followers to "wait for the leader to show us the way." And, in the waiting, we get bored and allow other life things to distract us and fill up our time.

I wonder how much we have abdicated the role that God gave to Adam. He told Adam "to go forth and multiply; and to rule over the birds of the air, the fish of the sea, and the animals on the ground." That sounds like pretty exciting work to me: important, vital and fulfilling.

As the Lord spoke to Adam, he speaks to us.

We are to do the same. We are to go forth and multiply and bless the world. We are to find solutions to the challenges on the earth, and to do it in partnership with the One who Created the earth!

Missio Lux stands on the precipice of a new day. I am being moved to California away from the people who have given their lives to help build Missio Lux. Increasingly, I am understanding that I need to be removed geographically because God created Missio Lux to be a Starfish....one that replicates out of the life that is being walked in partnership with God for his kingdom.

How do I feel about this? Excited....I anticipate that as we walk out this shift, we will see the presence of starfishes become much more prevalent!

Seek first his Kingdom: What's Righteousness?

2011-10-13T05:00:00.000-07:00

“Seek first God’s Kingdom and his righteousness, and all things will be given unto you as well.” Matthew 6:33

Righteousness. It’s a familiar term in Christian circles, but what does it really mean? I’ve been asking people what they think it means and I am getting a lot of different responses: living rightly, wearing God’s righteous robe, self -justification, the work Jesus did on the cross, judgment. You get the idea: everyone has an opinion, but today let’s look at God’s definition of righteousness.

The Hebrew and Greek definition of “righteousness” mean “action in conformity with an accepted and approved standard.” In the Bible, this usage is God’s standard, which is God himself. His nature is holy, so righteousness is living by God’s holy standard.

In the Old Testament, this standard was the law. All the Israelites knew that they couldn’t live up to the requirement of the law so they sacrificed animals to make themselves right with God. They knew that the blood of the animal brought God’s forgiveness so they could continue to live in relationship with the holy God they served.

In the New Testament, the Pharisees organized themselves to help their Jewish culture live into the law. The Israelites hadn’t heard from God for over 400 years and they continued to live in exile in the sense that they had governments ruling over them, they were not the ones ruling over the other countries. So, the Pharisees mission was to help purify the Jews that the long awaited Messiah would come.

And, the long awaited Messiah did come, but they missed him because the “righteous standard” he brought didn’t involve a long list of rules for how to keep the Sabbath, but how to connect with the God of the Sabbath through belief and relationship.

Jesus continued to frustrate and infuriate the Pharisees through breaking their laws. He healed people on the Sabbath, which in their mind constituted working.

He hung out with people of poor reputation, which to them was defiling his body.

He crossed their purity boundaries by talking to and taking water from a Samaritan woman; both big no-no’s to the Pharisees and their rules.

It seems that Jesus pointed us to the reality that it is through our faith in his identity that we are made righteous.

When we acknowledge that he is God’s Son, we literally receive righteousness by the reality of Holy Spirit entering into our body to seal us for salvation and to give us power to live a “righteous life.”

I was at the Pastor’s retreat last week and had the privilege of hearing former Covenant seminary president Jay Phelan speak on the kingdom of God. He defined righteousness as “making things right.”

Jesus came to be God’s instrument for setting things right. His blood shed and death set things right for us to be in relationship with him. There was no longer a need for animal sacrifice as Jesus’ sacrifice fulfilled God’s righteous requirement for humanity.

So, we are given God’s righteousness, but the call of Matthew 6:33 is for us to seek first Gods’ kingdom and his righteousness.

Once we receive it from God, how do we then go and bring it to the world?

Paul tells us in Romans 6 that we are to “offer our bodies to God as instrument as righteousness.”

Our faith is to translate to action.

James tells us that faith without action is dead. We are to act; we are to bring righteousness to the world. We are to bring justice, compassion, mercy and love into situations that are void of God’s presence. We are to be about bringing heaven to earth.

Jesus taught us to pray in the Lord’s prayer: “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

As we seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness, we are to discover the ways that he has created us, gifted and equipped us to go as his kingdom representatives to set things right on earth, just as they exist in heaven.

So, what does that mean for you?

Where do you walk out your vocation?

Is it in business? How can you set things right in your garden, the place where God has given you presence and responsibility? In many ways, the “Occupy” movement is about just this: they want to see the American financial system set right.

Are you in education? How can you set things right by teaching children? Perhaps you are bringing kingdom principles into your classroom. Is it equipping parents to raise their children up with godly characteristics. Perhaps it is writing a book that opens up our thinking on how to live as an instrument of righteousness.

Are you raising your children? How can you structure your family life so that your focus is on God’s ways, rather than the ways of our competitive culture? Perhaps it is inviting other children into your family life so they experience the heart of God in action.

It doesn’t matter where we are; it only matters that we set our priorities to “seek first God’s kingdom on earth as we offer our bodies as instruments of righteousness that set things right.” It won’t be easy, the thief will try to thwart our movement in this direction, but it will be important.

We each have a special place on earth; it is to bring God’s heart, his life and his priorities to the world around us. As we take these steps, we discover that his promise of the all things comes true as well.

I challenge you this week to ask God to show you how his righteousness in you can be brought to your world in tangible ways that help “set things right as the ways of heaven become the way of the earth.”

Missio Lux in Transition

2011-10-11T10:13:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged for a long time. The reason for this is that at the beginning of September, everything in our lives changed, as we announced that Bill and I are moving to California. He has been commuting back and forth to San Francisco for 4 1/2 years, and it was time to make a change.

I stayed at Bill's apartment in San Francisco during the month of July and it was then that we knew that the supernatural grace that God has given us to be apart during the week was being withdrawn. So, we began to pray and ask God to show us what to do.

We got a very clear answer when Bill's company said they wanted us to be in California; they no longer wanted to support his apartment in the city. They gave us some time to make the transition, and I thought that we would finish out the next ministry year and go next summer, but when I asked the Lord about it, I heard him say, "Go now!"

So, we began to tell Missio Lux our plan. The response shows the great maturity of the people within Missio Lux. Their first statement was "We are so happy for you and Bill, we want you to be together." Some of them even said, "I knew that you would be moving, the Lord has been preparing me."

This blessing is huge for giving us the confidence to move into the next stage of Missio Lux's life and ministry. We understand that God continues to spread us out and that my next stage is to be present in California.

What does this mean for Missio Lux in Seattle? They are ready to do the work of ministry without my presence. Most have even said that they recognize that they will step into their full calling as I go. I will continue to huddle, our intentional discipleship, and train them from afar with conference calls and skype, as well as occasional visits.

Our most challenging aspect in Missio Lux has been the center core. We have attracted people that are interested in the missional aspect of ministry, not the nuts and bolts that sustain the rest. So, we have decided to look for a person who will commit themself to doing this work... we won't call it an employee because we are a family, but one that will receive financial support to be freed up enough to do the work.

My work will shift from being an implementer of ministry to one who equips, trains and disciples the ministry implementers. I am excited about this new stage of life. It will allow me to work with the catalysts that God is identifying in different locations, as well as those in Seattle.

We covet your prayers during this very important time in Missio Lux' development. We are relying on the Lord to continue to show us his path to walk. We recognize that the Lord very supernatually birthed this ministry and he will continue to bring his heavenly solutions to our earthly challenges.

Seek first his Kingdom: What's a Kingdom?

2011-09-27T11:54:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago I watched Queen Elizabeth’s coronation which took place in 1953. When she was crowned, they read off the names of the different commonwealths that were connected to England. It was quite a formidable list stretching across many different continents: India, South Africa, Australia, Canada, as well as many others. The reality was that at the time of Queen Elizabeth’s coronation, England ruled much of the known world.

When we think of the word "kingdom" our minds often go to the earthly kings and their rule. It’s easy to do; from Princess Diana to Kate and William, we are a curious people. But, at the end of the day, they are just regular people like the rest of us. The power that they rule with is an earthly power that has only limited authority. There is still something so much bigger that can capture our attention and totally change our life if we pay attention.

That something bigger is the Kingdom of God. When Jesus came to earth, he spent his first few weeks telling people, “The Kingdom of God is near.” In fact, after his baptism and his time in the desert immediately following it, the next thing he did was go to his region of Galilee and begin to exclaim, “The time has come. The Kingdom of God is near.”

It was in that initial proclamation that he found his first four disciples; three of them becoming the key disciples that he drew nearest to himself: Peter, John and James. I guess my question is, “What was so compelling that they were willing to get up and walk away from their daily life to follow Jesus?”

Their following wasn’t a long drawn out discernment process, either. Mark tells us that Peter and his brother Andrew left their nets “at once” and followed him. He continues that John and James literally left their father and the hired men in the boat and followed Jesus. Can you just picture the scene? They just got up and left. . ..leaving the people behind them scratching their head wondering what just happened.

Mark doesn’t make us wait long to find out what they were being called to discover. The next part of the story involves Jesus taking his new friends to a synagogue in Capernaum where a demonic spirit confronted Jesus right in the middle of the church service. Can’t you just see it? He yells out, “What do you want with us Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?”

Jesus tells him, “Be Quiet!” (after all don’t you know we are in the middle of the church service!) and Come out of him. The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.

Needless to say, that wasn’t any old church service. It created quite a buzz and soon people all over the region had heard about this new person named Jesus.

Right after the rather exciting church service they went to Peter’s house where he was hosting a party for his friends to meet his new friend Jesus. But, when they got there, it turned out that the cook of the party was sick with a very high fever. So, Jesus took Peter and Andrew into her room and when he touched her, the fever left immediately. She was well enough to get up and cook the dinner.

Within hours, the line of people to see Jesus was intense. People came from all over to bring their sick and demon possessed family and friends to see Jesus. They had heard about his power to cast out demons and heal the sick, so they came running.

It’s at this point, that I want to stop and ask the question, “Is this our regular experience?”

When we engage our life with Jesus, is it typical to see displays of God’s power taking place?

Do we leave our experiences so breathless with wonder that we can’t but help tell those around us about it?

I can tell you that the times in my life that I have been most excited about sharing Jesus with others is when I saw the Kingdom of God at work. Sometimes it revolves around healing, other times it is through times of worship where we sense that Jesus is literally right there, other times it comes through being part of something that is so beyond myself and those that I am with, that I know that God had to do it.

I love to remember the time that we were at Occidental Square hosting a party for the poor and disenfranchised that live in the area, or spend their time hanging out on the Square. That morning when I was praying and asking the Lord how we were to prepare for the day, I sensed him tell me, “Go to the four corners and anoint them. Declare that the Square is mine and remind the devil that he has not part in it. It is my holy sanctuary.”

I took a couple of people with me to do just that when we arrived. But, then things got busy and I basically forgot about what we had done. Not too long after we started, my nephew and his wife came and told me that there was a Satan worshipper present and he told them that he was there to win souls for Satan. They wanted to pray him off the property, but I suggested that we pray for his salvation instead.

They did it rather reluctantly and skeptically, but we prayed. Amazingly, a Russian evangelist showed up and began to preach. When he gave an invitation to meet Jesus, David the Satan Worshipper went forward. He kept telling us that he was in shock. He believed he would die for his choice, but not only didn’t he die but by the time we met him the next morning at 7 a.m., he had brought two people to meet Jesus.

He told us that morning, “The strangest thing happened when I walked on the Square. I didn’t have my powers.”

There is it: the Rule and Reign of the Kingdom of God in action.

When the Kingdom of God is present, all the earthly and demonic powers are bound and they have no room to work. That which is heavenly comes to earth, very often with stunning displays of power. Sometimes, however, it comes invisibly and affects an area almost by surprise. We hardly know what is happening until one day we realize that change has come and the area is different; it is filled with life and health.

But, if it comes in great power or in silent ways, the reality is that it comes as we partner with God to see it come. I wonder what would have happened that day at Occidental Square if I had ignored the Lord’s direction and not anointed the four corners and declared it was God’s territory. Would David the Satan worshipper turned Jesus follower?

I wonder what would happen if we hadn’t established a healing prayer ministry where headaches, back problems, cancer and relational challenges get healed.

I wonder if people would continue to get healing from their hurts, habits and hang-ups if we didn’t commit ourselves in Missio Lux to showing up weekly to host a recovery ministry?

I wonder if the people in the nursing home and assisted living would sleep as well or be as healthy if we didn’t go there on a regular basis and provide worship experiences combined with prayer for healing.

Here’s the important thing we need to remember. When Jesus began to display the Kingdom of God in action, he didn’t do it alone. He didn’t do a single miracle or teach a single lesson until he had recruited at least four friends to do it with him.

It hasn’t changed. Jesus came to bring the kingdom of God, but he came to do it in a partnership with his friends. And, he tells us in John that “we are his friends if we do what he tells us. And, since we are his friends, he tells us everything he learned from his father, and teaches us to do them too.” (John 15:14-16)

Seek first his kingdom. That’s a core teaching of Jesus. It helps us to set the priority to live life in the great adventure with him, both in the big displays of power and in the simple acts of life that impact the world with his rule. And, when we do live from the kingdom first priority, we discover that everything else in our lives works, all the worries and cares of life fade into the background because suddenly we have a new, compelling priority from which to live.

So, how do we get started?

Read the Gospels. Start with Mark. I love how many times he uses the word, “immediately,” there isn’t a lot of waiting around wondering what’s going to happen.

Come to the first Identity Seminar on October 8^th where I will be teaching, leading experiences and praying for identity breakthroughs.

Continue to open your eyes and ask God to show you his kingdom at work. Watch and listen attentively to where he may be asking you to be the one that he is calling you to partner with him to bring it forth.

Set your alarm to go off at 10:02* and pray with other kingdom minded people for God to raise up the harvesters to harvest the harvest! Jesus tells us “Open up your eyes for the fields are ripe and ready.”

Oh, I need to go now, I see some fields that need some attention . . .

*Jesus’ call to pray: Luke 10:02

Seeking the Treasure

2011-09-20T12:23:00.000-07:00

Do you remember the epic movie “The Titanic?” It took the box office by storm; some people seeing it up to 9 to 10 times. Why? What was the attraction of that movie? First, it was a wonderful romantic story of the underdog winning the heart affection of the rich and beautiful woman. But, layered on top of that story is the current day story of the search for the treasure at the bottom of the sea.

Layered on top of the romance is the search of the Titanic, people investing millions of their own capital to find the Titanic that lies on the bottom of the ocean. Why? Because they know that a treasure awaited them. They were looking for the jewel that Cal gave to his finance, Rose. It was called the Heart of the Ocean. But, even more they were looking for the hidden stories of the ship: desiring to know that which was currently hidden from them. They realized down below was a treasure that they were willing to invest their life in discovering.

If Jesus was telling stories today, I believe he would also talk about the Titantic. He was a great teacher who knew how to take that which was culturally relevant to the people and make a spiritual concept simple yet profound. The culture was primarily agricultural so Jesus used a lot of farming illustrations in his teaching.

Matthew, one of his disciples, wrote down a lot of Jesus’ teachings and called them the Sermon on the Mount. He also dispersed teaching on the Kingdom of God (or Heaven) throughout his book. One of those teachings is this:

“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all that he had and bought the field.” Matthew 13:44

Jesus first invitation to us is to “Seek first his Kingdom….” What does it mean to seek? As I’ve delved deeper into the meaning of the word, I’ve realized that it is just this story about the treasure in the field. To seek is to search with everything we have to find the treasure. To seek is to search relentlessly until we find it. To seek is to give our whole lives to find it. And, to seek is to know that when we’ve found it, we will continue to give everything we have to live enjoying the treasure.

This is the challenge I see in our ability to seek first God’s Kingdom. The world is structured in such a way to take us in the exact opposite of that pursuit. We become consumed with the last line of Matthew 6:33: “and all these things shall be added unto you.” If you look at the context of the sixth chapter of Matthew, we find that the “all things” are about our earthly needs: verse 25 says “Do not worry about your life what you will eat or drink.” Verse 28 speaks of our clothes, telling us not to worry about what we will wear.

Before the theme of not worrying comes up, Jesus tells us that no one can serve two masters: either we will store up treasures in heaven or we will store up treasures on earth. It seems that Jesus tells us that we can’t serve two masters: if we do, we are divided people that will continue to live a frustrated life.

I think I know what you are going to say now: Jesus just doesn’t know how your life is right now. It’s hard to navigate searching for the treasure of the kingdom when you have so many demands on your time between your spouse, your children, your employer, your venders….it goes on and on. Besides the fact that we are never really able to get away from the demands because our cell phones, emails, texts keep us connected 24/7.

But, in reality, in comes down to the choice. Our choice. What’s more important to us? Where do we put our belief system? Who really provides for us? Is it our employer or is it our Heavenly Father? Bill and I have had the reality check 7 times that our employer is a fickle boss: with one decision, a company can be sold and our lives and the lives of all the other employees instantly becomes different. It helps us to remember who provides for us when our earthly boss changes course so easily.

If we choose to believe that our Heavenly Father is our provider, it changes our perspective. Suddenly, we understand that he has a different priority for us than our employers. He wants to lead us to the life worth living, the abundant life that Jesus speaks of. And, as we establish his priorities first, then he provides for our physical and earthly needs.

It seems simple, but it takes an intentional decision to change our mind on who leads us. I think that most of us want to believe that we do follow our heavenly Father first, but if we dig deep, we find that our behavior speaks differently.

Take this simple test:

1. When you prioritize your day, is there time for your own space to let down and time to give God your full attention?

2. On your day off, if you are faced with an important email to write or spending time reading your Bible, which one do you choose?

3. If you get a text or a phone call during your time with the Lord, do you ignore it or do you check it and contact them back?

4. If your friend, neighbor, family member, calls or comes over unexpectantly and needs help, how do you respond?

I could write on and on, but you get the idea. Who’s got your attention?

Pay attention this week to your thought patterns, your choices and your behavior. Filter it through the lense of the “Seek” word that means “Search for it like a treasure buried in a field,” something worth giving everything we have to obtain.

And, then decide: what are you seeking? What are you giving the “everything you have to?” Is it worth it?

Reflections on the Kingdom of God: the Adventure Begins"

2011-09-06T11:45:00.000-07:00

Over and over this summer, the Lord has brought me back to the invitation to “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things shall be given to me.” Jesus taught this principle in the very famous Sermon on the Mount, which is found in the fifth through seventh chapter of Matthew. This verse is found at the end of the sixth chapter, in the middle of the whole teaching (Matt 6:33).

In seminary they used to say, “You are reading someone else’s mail” when you read the Bible. What they were describing is the necessity to understand the historical and cultural contexts of what we read to get the full picture of what is taking place.

Last night I found a letter written from Bill’s Mom to me. As I read it, I looked for a date on it because I wanted to understand the context in which she was writing me. Was it right after we were married, or was it several years later? When I found the date, I knew, it was the first letter that she wrote me after we got married, and we were seeking to form a relationship for the first time.

This is also how we need to approach Jesus’ teachings on the Sermon of the Mount. We can ask questions, such as: Who was his audience? Where is it placed in Matthew’s Gospel? Why is this placement important?

Beginnings and endings are also important because they indicate a greater importance of attention. When themes are repeated this should also cause us to give greater focus to it as it is there to emphasize the seriousness in which Jesus wants us to hear his thoughts.

If you remember, John the Baptist came before Jesus to prepare the way for Jesus. He spent his life calling people to repentance through an act of baptism. The regular Jewish people were responding, the soil of their inner lives were being prepared to receive Jesus and to hear what he had to say.

So, my guess is that when Jesus gave his Sermon on the Mount, he had a lot of seeking Jewish people in his audience. (Most commentators believe that the Sermon on the Mount is a compilation of the teaching that Jesus often taught, it wasn’t a one time event). He also had a number of the Jewish leaders: the Pharisees and the Sadducees, in the audience. Perhaps he even had a few Gentile seekers, although their numbers would be sparse because of the open hostilities between the two groups.

Matthew is very intentional for where he places the Sermon on the Mount in his writings. The first four chapters involve a lot of action: they start with the geneology of Jesus’ family line, his prophesied birth and Mary’s trip to Bethlehem where Jesus was born, the visit from the Wise Men, the family’s escape to Egypt and their eventual return to Nazareth. The third chapter opens with John the Baptist preparing the way for Jesus’ coming by calling out, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” One day, John was visited by Jesus where he asked John to baptize him. John was surprised by the request, but when he baptized Jesus, the heavens opened and the dove descended on Jesus while everyone heard the Father’s pronouncement: “This is my beloved son in whom I delight.” Father, Son and Spirit all present at one time.

Immediately, Jesus was led into the desert to be tempted by the Devil for 40 days. It is through Jesus spoken word of Scripture that he was able to defeat the enemy’s scheme to lead him into sin. The Father was pleased and after the Devil’s final defeat, Jesus left and began to proclaim, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.”

This was the message of both John the Baptist and Jesus, their key idea that they continued to proclaim throughout their entire ministries. The Sermon on the Mount is the teaching for how we are live out Jesus’ call to us, as his disciples, to
“seek his kingdom first!”

Since both Jesus’ and John the Baptist told the people to “repent, “ I think it’s important for us to be clear on what repentance is and how we walk it out. Repenting is a process of turning around and going another direction with our lives: to understand that God has a way that is best and to make the decision to live in alignment with his way. Repentance involves first and foremost, a changing of our mind about how we live. The more that we align our lives with God’s way, the more that we experience his kingdom operating through us.

So, what exactly is God’s kingdom? Is it an actual place with a castle and a throne? Not exactly, it is wherever God’s rule and reign operates: so if we are living with God as our king and following his rule in us, the kingdom is present. In a sense, it is the very thing that Jesus taught us to pray in the Lord’s Prayer: “Thy Kingdom Come, Thy will be done, on earth as it already is in heaven.” We have the opportunity to see heaven come to earth as we seek first God’s kingdom in our lives.”

I am going to spend the better part of this year exploring the theme of the kingdom of God and how we can follow Jesus’ invitation to “Seek first God’s Kingdom and his righteousness, and seeing all the other cares of life come into right alignment as a result.”

I look forward to the journey, I hope you will come along with me as together we discover the treasure of life in God’s kingdom!

“Walking through Disappointment and Uncertainty with Hope”

2011-09-02T05:00:00.000-07:00

Have you ever encountered a situation where there doesn’t seem to be a good way through it? Have you ever felt disoriented about a direction that life seems to be going that it causes you to feel like you are losing your solid footing? Have you ever been disappointed about a relationship or a job or a dream that seemed to be leading one way but suddenly turned around and went the opposite direction?

I hope that you can answer yes to at least one of these questions, although I suspect that most of us can say yes to all three of them. Many of us want to run from situations that cause these questions, but I am finding that if we can embrace the challenge, we are given the opportunity to know God’s heart for us. We experience his faithfulness in the midst of confusion and the reality of miraculous breakthroughs that leave us in awe and wonder.

The Bible over and over tells us to walk in hope. The love chapter 1^st Corinthians 13 ends with this statement: “Three things remain: faith, hope and love.” Romans 12:12 calls us to “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” Romans 15:13 prays, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

So, what is hope and how it is different than faith?

The definition of faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we cannot see.

The definition of hope is to cherish a desire of anticipation and to desire with expectation of obtainment. Hope is a continuing desire and expectation that God is trustworthy and he will bring forth the breakthrough of his purposes.

In a nutshell, faith leads us to belief in God and hope leads us to trust in God and his character!

We start with faith, a foundation of belief. When times of uncertainty and disappointment come forth, this is the time to hold onto hope: continuing to desire the breakthrough with an expectation that it will come in God’s perfect timing.

I have found two Scriptures to be helpful in the reality of walking out a life of hopefulness, despite the uncertainty of the circumstances surrounding me. The first is from the Old Testament: a Psalm written by David when he had been captured by the Philistines. If anybody needed hope, David did in that moment.

This is what he wrote: (Psalm 56)

2: Oh Most High, when I am afraid, 3: I put my trust in you.

In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I am not afraid; what can mere people do to me?

8: You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in a bottle. Are they not in your record?

9: Then my enemies will retreat in the day that I call. This I know that God is for me.

10: In God, whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise.

11: In God I trust; I am not afraid, what can mere people do to me?

12: My vows to you I must perform, Oh God, I will render thank offerings to you.

13: For you have delivered my soul from death, and my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of life.

The second passage is from the New Testament: a letter written by the Apostle Paul, who knew much about hope. He lived daily in hope, knowing that God had the ability and desire to fulfill his promises to Paul.

Romans 5:1-5:

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we^[^a^] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ²through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.

And weboast in the hope of the glory of God. ³Not only so, but wealso glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴perseverance, character; and character, hope.⁵ And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

These two Scriptures give us direction on how to maintain hope in the midst of uncertainty, suffering, and disappointment, as well as warfare:

1. Call on God—put your attention on God and not the challenge before us

2. Out of the discipline of your will, thank him for the challenge (this causes the enemy to run from us. Psalm 56:9)

3. Remember what he has done in the past and speak it out loud

4. Praise God for his trustworthy character and his continual love for you (Romans 5:5 is a continual ongoing pouring of his love that never stops, even for a second)

5. Speak out his promises from his Word

6. Call out prophetic words and promises spoken over us

7. Persevere in hope, keeping your focus on Jesus and his ability and desire to bring the breakthrough

If you look at these two Scriptures we realize that God is responsible for his part and we are responsible for our part. God’s part is to bring forth the breakthrough, in David’s case, to break out from the Philistines, and in Paul’s case it is to save him as he is let down a wall through a basket to escape his enemies. Our part is to take a posture of faith and hope, and to develop a mindset that is focused on God’s character and power to bring us through the fire. We also have the invitation to experience God’s love through every trial we encounter.

So, take a moment and think about a challenge that you are walking through right now. What are your thoughts surrounding it? Do you find yourself creating different scenarios of how it could play out, or are you focusing on God’s ability to bring the hopeful answer? Your answer to this question will tell you much about where your trust lies: is it in God or an earthly solution?

The thing is that we serve a God who is in the business of bringing heavenly solutions to earthly dilemmas. The best way that we build our faith and hope muscles is to actually walk out challenges that are inevitable in life.

Here is a prayer that Paul wrote to the church of Ephesus. Today it is my prayer for you:

My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you'll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.

^20-21God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us. Amen. (Ephesians 3:14-21)

When we choose to live a life of intentional faith and hope, we are given the prize: the experience of the fullness of the Father’s love for his beloved children. Can life be any better than that?

Three things remain: faith, hope and love. But, the greatest of these is love!

Missio Lux has a Special VIsitor from India

2011-08-31T05:00:00.000-07:00

Luke Lewis, Pastor Prince, and Tamara after the Gathering

Sometimes life surprises us. We think that we are meeting one person and it turns out that God sends us a spiritual giant....this happened at Missio Lux last night.

Luke is the man who is trying to go to India to lead a training for the Sunday School teachers from 85 different churches....he hasn't been able to go because the government hasn't granted him the required visa to go. So, he waits. We all wait and pray, as we know that God has big plans for what he is going to do in India through Luke's presence.

Meanwhile, Luke supports two orphan children in India through Immanuel Fellowship Ministries. The leader of IFM is Pastor Prince Thomas. He was our surprise visitor last night!

Pastor Prince told us one amazing story after another. He spoke of being a regular man in India until one day he had a visitation from Jesus who called him to go to an Indian state where there is not even one Christian. He went almost immediately, with no job or plan for support. For three years, he witnessed to the power of Jesus, but not one person turned to follow him.

He was very discouraged and wanted to quit, but one day he sensed the Lord say to him, "Prayer walk around the city and bind up the demons. After you do that, declare that their eyes are opened and their hearts are softened to follow me." So, Pastor Prince did just that.

He also found the command in Luke 10 to pray for the harvesters and look for the Person of Peace. The Person of Peace is one that welcomes you, listens to you and serves you. They are ones that God is preparing to bring forth a harvest--through their spheres of influence. Because once a Person of Peace meets Jesus, they tell everyone they know and they usually have a LOT of friends!

God brought a Person of Peace into Prince's life and the man gave Pastor Prince an invitation to pray for his bedridden mother in law. She had been in bed for 15 years paralyzed but after Prince prayed for her she got up healed! This brought a storm of people into their house to see what had happened and Pastor Prince was able to share the good news of Jesus, who saves us not just for salvation in heaven, but also protection, salvation, healing and deliverance, and provision today!

That day almost 30 people gave their lives to Jesus and the first house church was born. It hasn't stopped since....just a little over 10 years later, the Indian State of Haryana, which previously didn't have one Christian follower, now has 265 house churches in villages all over Haryana!

This is what God can do with the power of the Gospel displayed through signs, wonders and miracles, and a man who believes in a God who can do the impossible and a great replication strategy!

Those of us who were able to spend time with Pastor Prince last night were deeply moved and realized what a gift that God had brought him into our midst! We can learn from him in Missio Lux and are happy that he is now our new friend!

Celebrate Recovery Team goes to the Summit

2011-08-28T14:57:00.000-07:00

Part of the Celebrate Recovery Team at the CR Summit

Last week six members of the Celebrate Recovery Ministry, shared jointly by Missio Lux and our parent church, Pine Lake Covenant, went to the CR Summit at Saddleback Church in Orange County. The amazing thing about their visit is that all of the trip was paid for through their missio community funds.

Missio Lux' 75/25% split for finances is intentional: 75% goes to support their community in their area of mission, and 25% goes to support the whole, which consists mostly of administrative costs.

We keep our administrative costs for website, supplies, resources, and costs for leadership to a minimum so that each missio community has their funds freed up to do their work of mission. In Celebrate Recovery's case, to support their work to help people heal from their hurts, habits and hang-ups through Christian 12 step.

This is the first time that a significant number of the team has gone to the Summit. It's been good timing as CR has ministered faithfully, week after week, for almost four years. That's a long time to show up each week to put on a BBQ and then a worship and open meeting where either a testimony or a teaching is given. After the large group time, men and women divide up into open share groups where they are each given a few minutes to share what is taking place in their lives as they seek to walk a lifestyle of recovery.

When I asked the CR leaders why they do continue to show up each week, their answer is usually along the lines of "I get so inspired by seeing people make valuable changes in their lives, it keeps me going," or "It keeps me accountable to live a 12 step lifestyle, which I know honors Jesus."

The final aspect of Celebrate Recovery is 12 Step Groups. These are also divided up by gender, and are the most serious aspect of the CR ministry. They are the vehicle where the participants dig deep to discover where they have experienced hurts, habits and hang-ups which has kept them from a living a healthy lifestyle that would please God. Those that do the hard work in 12 step are able to reach out and help others: it is the cycle of giving back for the help that they have received!

Have you seen the Movie, "The Help?"

2011-08-18T11:38:00.000-07:00

Last night, my daughters and I went to see the movie, "The Help." It's a wonderful story about a young college graduate from Jackson, Mississippi, who ended up convincing a black maid to tell her the stories of what it is like to work for white women. Of course, this maid works for one of Skeeter;s, as the author is nicknamed, friends.

The story speaks of courage on both ends of the spectrum. The first is, of course, the first maid and the many others who follows her lead. The risk they took involved losing their job, getting arrested, and having their reputation disparaged. But, they took those risks because the pain of living life the same way as they had been, seemed more painful than walking through persecution to a life of freedom.

Interestingly, Skeeter, also needed courage. She was basically going against every social and cultural norm to befriend the maids, and to tell their stories. She had to open her eyes to the injustice that was all around her, in blinding red lights, even though for much of her life she had accepted it as normal. She lost much in the process, even losing the love of her life because he couldn't accept her choice to write the book. In the end, however, what she in her awakening became such a part of her that she was willing to stay in Jackson to live out the persecution with the maids.

She had to go against the wishes of her friends and even make an "accidental error" in the society newsletter that created a yard full of "commodes" in her childhood best friend's yard. This is quite humorous because her friend was pressuring her to highlight the initiative to get everyone to put a "colored" bathroom in their homes. Skeeter was so appalled by this initiative that she found many ways to go around putting it in the newsletter.

This movie profoundly affected me last night because I see parallels to my own life in this story. I have also written a book on Identity, and know that the publication of it will be life changing to me. I know that I will receive criticism about it as it challenges some of the social and cultural norms of the Church, things that I always took for granted as being right, but as I've gone deeper in my study of the Scripture and deeper in my spirit life with Christ, I am being awakened, like Skeeter, to a whole reality that I didn't know existed.

It's taking courage for me to open my eyes and walk this new lifestyle that the Lord has called me to walk with him; and it will take courage, like the black maids, for those who read it to make the pivotal changes that the book will awaken within them. My hope is that the reader's choice of living status quo seems much more painful than the choice to join the journey of discovering the truth about our identity and walking it out.

Keep your eyes posted for the publication of the book, whose working title is Identity Crisis: It's Time to Reclaim the Truth of Who We Are! Hopefully, it will be coming out around the first of the year....and together we can courageously walk in the new awareness of what it means to be a beloved child of the King of the Universe!

Jesus Comes to Oprah's Ball

2011-08-10T21:14:00.000-07:00

God is blowing a new wind. It's a wind that is crossing all kinds of barriers that have been erected through the years; our differences becoming more important to us than our unity in knowing that we are people loved by our Creator who desires to have a relationship with us.

Remember the Shack? That book pointed countless numbers of people to Jesus, and yet, the criticism leveled against it was thick and unyielding.

A long time ago, when I was at the start of this whole adventurous journey that I've been invited to join, I was sitting, broken hearted in a church service, having come out of a painful ministry situation that almost broke me. As I was sitting there, I suddenly saw a box, and then I heard the words, "You've had me in a box, and I want to removed your boxes," as I saw one side after another ripped down.

This is what my Creator Creative God has done for the past 15 years. He has shown me sides of himself that surprise and stun me. And, I have to wonder, would this Creative Creator rather be at an Oprah's ball where he gets to surprise people, or would he rather be in a stuffy church service that is timed down to the minute?

Watch this 5 minute video and see for yourself which choice he makes. Listen to Diane Sawyer as she says, "This was the most transcendent experience that I will probably ever have." Watch those that lift their hands in praise, almost because they can't help themselves. Consider the words at the end of how one man is going to choose to live after he experienced the holy invading the ordinary. He's going to dream bigger: this is the God of hope at work in his creative way.

Let's keep our eyes open for more divine appointments to come....

Click here

The Gift of Abiding

2011-08-05T05:00:00.000-07:00

"She who abides in me shall bear much fruit, for apart from me, she can do nothing." Jesus

Missio Lux has learned to follow the rhythmic pattern of abide and bear fruit in our yearly schedule. We take two times of abide: the first is the two weeks between Christmas and New Years, and the second and most important is the month of July. We don't meet and everyone experiences a different pace and often location for the month!

My time in San Francisco during the month of July was much needed. I was extremely exhausted by the end of the ministry year....I limped towards the finish line at the end of June.

So, as we often find our self worth through how busy and important we are, I experienced a sense of just the opposite in July. I found that I wasted as much time as I could, after I finished writing in the early afternoon. I did nothing a LOT....just because I could and at times, it was the most refreshing thing I could do!

I was quiet a lot. I didn't know anyone in the city, except Bill, and he was often gone long hours. I kept my phone calls to a minimum so I could recharge relationally~even though I am an extrovert, I was talked out!

I slept a lot. I got up when I woke up, and I took naps when I felt like I needed one.

I did three of the things that recharge me the most: I wrote and I walked and I read.

I spent time with Bill; enjoying the carefree life of no yard, no big house to take care, and no children to worry about....

and most of all, I spent a lot of time with Jesus. I took as long as I wanted with him in the mornings; I chatted with him as I walked through the city, and I sensed his pleasure when I seriously enjoyed every aspect of the abide!

Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down for my Time in San Francisco

2011-08-03T19:13:00.000-07:00

I just spent a little over three weeks in San Francisco to be present with my husband Bill, who works in San Francisco during the week and comes home to Seattle on the weekends. I also went to have focused time to work on the book I am writing about Identity.

I took a walk each day in the later afternoon and as I walked I made some assessments about the things that I really liked about San Francisco and those things that were frustrating and difficult to watch.
So, here's my list: I hope you like it!

Thumbs Down:

Homeless people digging food out of trashcans....I saw this all the time!
Traffic heading to Sonoma and Napa on the weekends
The sewer smell that permeated up through the streets, it smelled BAD!
Almost getting run over by a driver who wanted the parking space I was trying to save for a friend

Thumbs Up:

Being with Bill on a more regular basis than we have had the privilege of doing for the past 4 years
The beautiful view of the Bay Bridge from his apartment
Making phone calls and hanging out at the Bow and Arrow Landmark (built because Tony Bennett left his heart in San Francisco!)
Enthusiastic Giants Fans
Walking to the Stadium to become one of their fans!
Watching Ryan Vogelsong pitch and get a standing ovation
The Wharf
The Crooked Street
Great Food
Being Close to Wine Country
Amazing Architecture

Great People Watching
Simple life in a small apartment

So, there you have it! I am grateful for the time away....it gave me time to do the R's: Rest, Recoop, Relationship, and (w)Rite!

Stop, Wait or Go

2011-07-27T19:13:00.000-07:00

Laurie, on www.laurieonlifestyle.blogspot.com writes about God's answers in a great blog

click here to read it:

A Glimpse of God's Kingdom on Earth

2011-07-22T05:00:00.000-07:00

Patti on the left, next to my Mother at the Farmers Market

Patti is a wonderful lifelong friend of mine. When we both lived in Colorado, we often prayed together and believed that God worked like iron sharpening iron when the two of us came together as spiritual friends journeying through life.

Last week we had a conversation that was so exciting to me that I simply had to share it as an example of what can happen when we allow God to take the hard experiences of our life; and use them for his glory.

Patti is the assistant director of a preschool in the Denver metro area where they mainstream developmentally delayed handicapped kids with those children who are developing on a typical schedule. Of course, there are always challenges that come with this approach, but this preschool has found a way to train their teachers so that they are seeking to discover the treasures that are inside of each child, and to draw them out by speaking it into them, giving them room and permission to explore their world, and finding a way not to punish but to affirm and redirect.

Patti hasn't had an easy life. She had a baby that died at 3 months old due to a heart problem. Her husband divorced her because she became a Christian, and was very spotty with his child support, despite having an income several times her income. A few years after the divorce, he killed himself, but not before he sent out a letter blaming Patti for his problems. Her son was 13 years old at the time of his Dad's suicide, one of the worst times for a developing young boy to lose his father. He continues to struggle in many ways.

Despite all of Patti's hardships, she is one of the most joyful, persevering and optimistic people I know. When I asked her once how she did it, she told me that the thief had stolen enough from her and she was determined not to let him steal from her anymore.

As we began to catch up on our phone conversation, she told me that she sees now that God is taking all the pain in her life and turning it around for good. W
hen I asked her she saw that happening, this is what she told me. "When our baby Cara died, it was the worst feeling in the world, even though I knew that I didn't cause it, my heart still told me that a mother should protect her child. With my work with little children, the ability to teach the teachers, and now the parents, and even some of the community, how to treat these little children so they are not injured in their spirits, is such a blessing and a redemption of the pain in my own life. I am so grateful to be able to be doing this work.

When Patti sees the children at preschool, she sees them laughing and being comforted in the arms of Jesus. She sees them safe and with the Good Shepherd who is protecting his valuable flock.

The thing is that even if this work stayed just at the preschool, it would be making a huge difference. But, the kingdom of God is like the leaven that permeates the dough, and the seed that is planted into the soil that becomes the biggest tree in the garden. It works invisibly and then it makes a great difference in the world as God's reign on earth comes forth.

Last week the preschool had visitors from the state, the region, and the nation. These leaders are the opinion setters and decision makers in terms of policy and funding structures for early education. Can you imagine that? God took the heart of one woman and is now turning her desires for "little people" as she calls the preschoolers to be safe, loved, affirmed and nurtured in their God given design and is exposing the highest level leaders to their philosophy.

Patti says that when she gets up to talk, not her favorite thing to do, but after she gets over her nerves, she starts to see what is happening in these observing leaders. They are all smiling, nodding, and some are even crying as they listen to story after story of transformation of what is taking place in the teachers, the children, the families, and even the entire preschool.

And, the good news is that the ripple effect could go as far as to our whole country.

This is the Kingdom of God in action. He takes one life and multiplies his kingdom in it so that it grows to something so big and influential that the world, or the area, or the people group is transformed. But, he does it quietly, almost secretly for a time, almost as if he is protecting the seedling until it is strong enough to be exposed to the elements of the world.

I know that Patti is doing great ministry; she is not a paid pastor, but she has brought the love of Jesus and the kingdom atmosphere into her sphere of influence in a way that is transforming ripple upon ripple.

Jesus, raise up more Patti's! Give us all a vision for how you can take our painful circumstances of our lives and to bring forth your kingdom glory through them. Amen.

A Word in the Night Results in Healing

2011-07-18T05:00:00.000-07:00

Luke is a man who is part of Missio Lux. He carries great faith and knows that God has given him a healing gift. He is anxious to see God do more and more miracles through him and around him. The following is a miracle that occured with his wife Ruth:

We set out to travel to Colorado to see our daughter and grandchildren, but on the way down her toe began to swell up like a sausage. Her doctor had told her: "Your test came back positive for osteomyelitis, but I can tell it is not. If it was, I would have to cut your toe off."

When we got to Sheridan, Wyoming we stopped early, and I went for one of my usual walks. I jumped a fence and headed out on the prairie. I wasn't sure about rattle snakes, and I didn't want to surprise one of them in the grass so I began to pray out-loud. It was a beautiful evening, and the country was wide open and unpopulated. I soon found myself walking amongst 6 beautiful horses, and I got fairly close to 6 antelope too. Two of them had their little fawns with them. I also frightened a small bird who had a nest on the ground full of eggs. I saw some prairie dogs, but I didn't see any snakes.

I prayed about India, and I prayed for Ruth's foot too, and I prayed about Missio Lux. It was just getting dark when I returned, so I went to bed early concerned about Ruth's toe. At 6 AM, I heard a voice in my head. The voice said: "LUKE, read, Luke 13:11." It was still dark out and Ruth was sleeping, so I took my Kindle Reader into the bathroom and looked up the mystery passage: "A woman was there who had been disabled by a spirit for over 18 years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her, He called out to her, 'Woman, you are free of your disability.' Then He laid His hands on her, and instantly she was restored and began to praise God."

I went back to bed pondering this and some other things God was showing me and fell asleep. Ruth woke me up later and I told her what I had heard, and I read it to her. I put her foot on my knee (she was sitting on the bed across from me) and said, "Woman, you are free from your disease;" then I put my hands on her feet and declared her healing. I could tell this had greatly increased her faith and hope.

She had what looked like the head of an abscessed boil rising up on her toe, and nothing immediately changed. When we got to Colorado, I thought we should lance the head of this volcano, but she was hanging onto her healing. That was six days ago, and since then she hasn't had any pain in her feet, and the abscess, or whatever it was, is dissipating. Her toe is turning to its normal color again, and she is walking quite nicely.

This healing is important because Luke is scheduled to go to India to do a training for Sunday School Teachers from 85 churches in Northeast India. Ruth had volunteered to care for the grandchilren, so their daughter Kim, could come along with Luke on the missions trip.

Praise God for this healing, and then anticipate all the ways that God plans to move in India as he uses Luke and Kim to bring forth his kingdom ways and power!

Healing Prayer Visits Living Free Ministries

2011-07-14T05:00:00.000-07:00

The Team from Seattle Walking into Living Free Minsitiries for the 1st time

The reason that I was able to be in Colorado for ACKC was that I brought five other Healing Prayer Ministers to Colorado to visit our sister Healing Ministry, Living Free Ministries. A few of the leaders of LFM have come to Seattle several times; so we eagerly looked forward to coming to meet those ministry partners who have like minds and hearts!

It was an amazing three days. When our two teams started to worship, the Presence of God was so tangible that we all felt it. The joy that we experienced flowed out the door and down the street. Every participant who came Monday night felt the river of joy, peace and love overflow onto them~the Kingdom of God was present! (Romans 14:17 says, "The Kingdom of God is not eating or drinking, but righteousness, peace and joy!)

Praying for the Moyer Family before their Missions Trip

One of our privileges was to pray for the Moyer family. This family, that includes 4 boys, were leaving for 6 weeks to go to Indonesia for a missions trip that they had designed. They were going to be working at an orphanage for young girls. The Moyer family is starting a missio community in their neighborhood as their boys have gone to so many neighbors asking them if they would like to receive prayer. The reason they can be so bold: all of them have experienced supernatual healing, and now they want to pray for others to have the same!

Tuesday we were able to spend the day with about 8 of their team as we listened to their structure, their vision, and their goals. We learned how they do prayer appointments and listened to what God was saying to us about how to strengthen what we are doing in Seattle. One of our team members got to experience being the participant and she was thrilled!

Tuesday night we were blessed to be invited to one of the team member's home in the mountains for dinner. It was a lovely evening that we didn't think could be topped, but seeing herds of deer and elk on the way home, as well as a beautiful sunset made the day complete.

Our Debrief at the Park

Wednesday morning our team debriefed in a park. We ended up in a place of great worship as we realize how God is moving us to make ourselves more available than one time per month for people to receive prayer. We know, too, that we want to do more teaching so that people can know not just the God who saves, but also the God who heals and delivers!

Getting Ready to Leave to Come Home

We finished up our time with Living Free at their weekly ministry during the day. It takes a bit of a different form, as it starts with teaching by one of the team of teachers, followed up with prayer for those who desire it. I was blessed to pray for a woman who was leaving the next day to move to New York, but she had been coming to LFM for just one month and it had changed her life. She felt like God had prepared her for her move through her time with LFM.

Now that we are back in Seattle, we begin the process of debriefing with the rest of the team and praying into how God wants us to move next year. We realize that our trainings are filled with his presence and his power, and now we want to expand access to those that can't necessarily come to three weekend trainings per year.

Please pray for us as we discern our next steps. But, also celebrate that Missio Lux and Living Free Ministries are in a place of great friendship, respect and common DNA!

Arok Becomes AROCK Star: the Rest of the Story!

2011-07-12T05:00:00.000-07:00

When I walked into ACKC on Thursday, Stacee, the Children's Pastor, was calling several children up onto the stage. They ranged in age from 3 to 11 years old. The reason that she was calling them up was because they were going the extra mile in raising funds for the grinding mill.

Stacee telling the stories of the children who went the extra mile!

One little girl gave her tooth fairy money from the night before.

Another boy gave everything in his life savings: $150.

Two other children went door to door in their neighborhood, raising another $150.

Another boy gave his entire allowance for 2011.

Several other children made lemonade stands to raise money.

One little girl gave her favorite gold rock!

I almost cried when I heard these stories. These children weren't dutifully bringing in money because they were asked, nor were they motivated more by winning the prize for their team's highest giving. They were bringing money that were sacrificial gifts: their offerings cost them something! Jesus must have been so pleased, just as he was when the woman gave her only coins in the temple offering.

And, even better, because the children had a chance to get to know Arok and build a relationship with him, their lives will be forever impacted. They will have the chance to have an ongoing friendship with him as Stacee says that she has many more dreams of ways that the children of Arvada Covenant and Arok can partner together.

Everything the children gave all mattered and it all added up. After the finale on Friday night, the offering not only met the goal, but surpassed it by almost double! When God sets out to do something, he does it big!

Arok collecting the offering for the Day!

ACKC raised a whopping $10, 700 for Seeds of Hope! This is enough to not only buy the grinding mill, but also to purchase mattresses for the children's beds at the compound and to help pay the expenses for caring for the children while they are not in school.

I am so grateful for this breakthrough for Seeds of Hope. Missio Lux is committed to kingdom partnerships, believing that we can do far more together than we can do apart. We look forward to a rewarding and fruitful partnership with Arvada Covenant.

Consider donating too: www.missiolux.org/donate

ACKC responded to the Call by Raising $10,700 for Seeds of Hope!

Arok Becomes A Rock Star!

2011-07-11T05:00:00.000-07:00

The first thing that I encountered when I walked into ACKC (Arvada Covenant Kids Camp) was Arok standing by the display of the grinding mill that they hoped to raise money for; and he was signing the shirts of the kids who poured through the door.

It only took a day for the kids to warm up to Arok. At first, they were a little shy because they had rarely been around someone so tall, so dark and with lines etched in his forehead. But, once they saw his smile and saw how much he adores children, they swarmed to him like bees to honey!

I wrote earlier how God used an exercise time on a treadmill at the Covenant Midwinter's Pastor Conference for me to renew my friendship with Tom Melander, who is now the Mission's Director at Arvada Covenant. He and his wife, Margaret, went to Uganda to visit their daughter, Kelsey, so they took an extra trip from Kampala to Nukuru to visit our Seeds of Hope children and see our compound.

Arok with Margaret and Tom

God knew what he was doing during their visit. He brought four Lost Boys of Sudan to greet Tom and Margaret and to share dinner together. Margaret, especially, came away KNOWING that the Lost Boys are the hope of Sudan: something that Missio Lux has recognized through our partnership with Arok. I believe that the Lost Boys were saved as a remnant to act to bring hope to their country through the resources of connection, education and finances that some have access to through their life in the USA.

Even independently of their visit, the Children's Pastor, Stacee Eggers, at Arvada Covenant decided to choose Arok's village of Paliau for their missions project: to raise $6,000 for a grinding mill. This grinding mill will grind all the grain from the village in 1/100 of the time that it currently takes the women and children to grind the grain between two rocks.

The Grinding Mill Display

The ACKC team thought it was an ambitious goal because they had never raised more than $5,000 before for their missions projects. But, they went into in faith knowing that God had clearly led them to Arok and his presence with them would help to inspire the children.

Arok demonstrates grinding the corn between two rocks

Arok with Senior Pastor John Martz

Arok on Stage with Children's Pastor Stacee Eggers

Arok did more than inspire the children~he helped them to step into a whole world outside of their familiar suburban world in Arvada, Colorado. He helped them to understand that a girl doesn't go to school because first of all there are no schools in the Paliau due to the Civil War of 20 years. The educatioinal system just doesn't exist in Southern Sudan.

But, secondly, even if she had the opportunity, right now her role is to walk 45 minutes to a river to get water for the family and then to help her Mother grind the corn or grain for the daily bread. It takes hours every day to do this. The Grinding mill is going to free up their time to spend on more productive and hopefully, life giving, pursuits.

I was present on Thursday when the children came to a station where they actually got to experience grinding the corn the present way that Paliau grinds: between two rocks. Then, they got to see a smaller version of a grinding mill take the dried corn and grind it in less than a minute. When I asked the children if they would rather grind corn or go to school, every one of them said, "Go to School!"

Arok got the nick name "Arok the Rock Star" at ACKC but I've always known that he was a Rock Star. He is one that made a sacrificial decision to spend his life on behalf of a village that he left when he was 7 years old. He continues to focus on helping the 35 orphans we have in boarding school in Kenya, and on helping his village become financially prosperous so they can partner in the role of educating the children.

The Grinding Mill is one big step forward for that to happen!

How much did ACKC raise for the mill? You'll have to wait until tomorrow for that answer!

Reading through the Bible Cover to Cover

2011-07-08T05:00:00.000-07:00

I finished reading through the Chronological Bible on June 25th! My goal was to do it in 6 months, and I was happy to finish it within that time.

The reason? I have fallen in love again with Scripture.

In April 2010, I was challenged by Keith Ferrin www.thatyoumayknow.com to read through the Bible. I hadn't done it for a long time, it was before I went to seminary, so I took the challenge and started to read it cover to cover. It was an amazing experience. The Lord met me over and over as I immersed myself in his Word. I found myself in a place of peace and contentment that thrilled me; and each day was a new adventure as I read through each book.

I finished around the middle of December, and so I wondered what my next step should be. I picked up a copy of the Chronological Bible: it is arranged in a linear fashion, rather than how it is usually arranged by genre: Pentatauch, History books, wisdom, major prophets, minor prophets, Gospels, Acts, Letters of Paul, letters from other writers, Revelations.

One of the things that I liked about the Chronological Bible is that it read more like a novel than being so broken up by book, chapter and verse. I think that we miss so much when we only read bits and pieces of the Bible.... we miss the overarching story of God which is the foundation of our faith.

The Old Testament was fasinating. Even though I have a seminary education, I was never completely clear which prophet went with which King or which century. The Chronological Bible intersperses the prophets with the kings and with even the Psalms and Proverbs. I came away from reading the Old Testament feeling much more sure of how the whole story flows, but more importantly, I heard clearly the broken heart of God through it. He wanted so much for his people to recognize his love and faithfulness to them, but they had awfully short memories.

The New Testament wasn't as different, but once again, I liked having the letters of Paul coming after Acts listed his missionary journies. I liked how the Gospels had many of the same stories, but from the different viewpoints.

Last December, I sent my parents two chronological Bibles with a challenge to read them this year. They are eagerly doing it and enjoying the process.

Today, I will make the same challenge to you with a money back guarantee.

If you finish your Chronological Bible in one year, I will buy it from you! Just let me know when you are starting and how much you paid for it, and if you come back to me within a year, I will buy it from you if you didn't feel like it was a worthwhile and fruitful experience. If you did gain a lot from it; then you were given a gift that far outweighs the cost of the Bible!

I am Leavin on a Jet Plane.....

2011-07-04T17:50:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow morning at 6 a.m. Bill and I will board a plane for San Francisco. I am going to spend one month with him during Missio Lux' abide time.

Bill has made a paramount sacrifice for our family. He works in San Francisco and has his family in Seattle. He has a wonderful job in CA and is very happy, but knows that my call to Missio Lux is in Seattle, so we spend our weeks apart and our weekends together when he comes home.

But, not this month! I am going to share his very tiny apartment and to spend the mornings when he is working writing on the book on Identity. It's core passage is Romans 8:14-17 where Paul tells us that we are not only beloved adopted children of God but we are also heirs with Christ.

My birthday party last year!

Please pray for Bill and I as we make this journey~

It is Time to Abide

2011-07-02T22:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I blogged about the completion of our third ministry year. Today I want to write about Missio Lux' yearly rhythmic pattern of abiding.

Our commitment to abiding comes out of a desire to pattern our lives after Jesus and to do the things he says to do. It also comes out of the reality that when there is never a change of pace, or a break from doing the on-going things, burn out happens!

When God created the universe he rested on the seventh day. He calls us to do the same, calling us to keep the Sabbath as one of his Ten Rules for Life.

To me, the question seems to be, if God needed to rest, what makes us think that we don't?

Jesus gave us a wonderful invitation in John 15 when he said, "If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.". He also said in John 15 "Abide in me as I abide in you. just as the branch can not bear fruit unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me."

This is a part of life that I don't get....when we get up and run out of the house to work because we need to be "more productive.". Jesus tells us that we will never be fully productive unless we abide with him.

So, what does it look like to abide? Some people get images of being on their knees prahu g as abiding. Others see it as being in church every time the doors are opened. I see it differently.

I see abiding as the living breathing relationship with Jesus, moment to moment. Not Sunday to Sunday or even "Quiet time to Quiet time."

Abiding is living in a state of rest. We may be in the most pressure cooker environment at work, but we can be at rest because we know Jesus abides in us. We may be physically exhausted for a short period, but spiritually very alive because as we follow Jesus, doing the things he tells us to do, we are breathing in real life.

I often ask this question in huddle (our intentional discipling) "What do you love to do?" until just recently those in huddle would look at me in confusion. Why was I asking them that question? Aren't we supposed to serve in our church as the way to follow Jesus?

Yes, of course, sometimes. But, I also believe that when we do the things we love to do, we are worshipping and abiding with Jesus. When my daughter goes on a hike, she experiences God's Presence far more than in an official worship service. When my younger daughter is with animals, her whole face lights up.

I get life from writing, from reading, from being in beautiful places, when I am in a deep meaningful conversation with a friend, and from walking my 100 lb Bernese Mountain dog in Sunny Seattle (or even rainy Seattle), from spending time on the lake, as well as when I am I intentionally spending time with Jesus.

This is our third summer to abide as a faith community. The first summer we filled it with lots of scheduled stuff...but this summer we are officially abiding in the month of July, not having anything official on the calendar, until the camp out in late July. We are encouraging every to gather "unofficially" with each other, as well as those that we never have enough time to see.

We also want to do the "R" things: that which renews, restores, revives, rebuilds, and repairs us. This makes our Creator happy because when we do the things we were created to do, we are worshipping and we are abiding.

Missio Lux Completes our 3rd Ministry Year

2011-07-01T22:04:00.000-07:00

Our third ministry finished yesterday. In many ways, it was a significant event and in others, it was just another day! It is easy to focus on the external ways that God was present: such as in November when we packaged 40,000 meals to send to at risk children in Sierra-Leone or our Easter Banquet in Occidental Square or in the Hoops of Hope outreach as we raised money for Sudanese orphans to go to boarding school, but the real significance in our growth as a faith family comes in our internal work as Jesus followers.

There is so much to celebrate for what God did amongst us and around us. We grew deep roots as we focused our discipleship learning to live as the Tree of Life. We learned to recognize God's voice in both Scripture and through Holy Spirit's communication to us. We learned to feed off the fertilizer of God's Word and the Living Water of the Spirit. We soaked in the sun of God's love for all of us. We let God prepare the soil of our lives so the seeds could take root and bear a harvest.

We grew deeper in our understanding and experience of learning to be the "Trunk" to one another as we supported one another through death's of parents, major life events, and relational challenges. We did it well at times; but other times we missed the mark. We are learning that it is hard work to be the "Trunk" to one another, it takes time, it is messy and it goes against our culture of instant gratification and moving on when things don't work out.

We are also learning what it means to be the branches and leaves where the birds comes and nest. Mark 4 says, "It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. ³² Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.” When we move as the Tree of Life; we truly do become a place of safety and nurture for others around us.

When we move in our divine calling, doing the very things that God planned for us to do long ago, we are the ever expanding tree that others feel rest and refreshment when they are around us. It may be the small things of life that we offer; very often quiet and unnoticed, like the woman who works as an aide to the school, being the beacon of life on the playground.

Or, we may be the businessman who chooses to run his business with kingdom principles, making decisions that the world would say are foolish, but are changing lives both in the company and those they serve.

Or, we may be the man who responds to a call in the shower to go to India; inviting his daughter to go along and patiently waiting through all the worldly obstacles so the way is made clear to go to an unknown land.

It may be the teachers in South Korea who are going to be "missional light" both to the students they teach and to the friends they are encountering. They become family to one another as they are very far away from their own families.

It could be the family that is currently packing up all their worldly possessions, giving away, selling and storing some, so they can follow a call to move to Dubai where they will bring friendship to an international community of people who don't know Jesus.

It could be the women from Helena who have made the trek to Seattle two times this year to learn how to pray healing prayer for their faith and life community. It could be the team of 12 that came down for three weekend trainings from a community an hour and a half north of Seattle. It could be the 10 people who were commissioned as Healing Prayer Ministers who are courageously reaching out to pray for those that God is putting in their path; seeing such miracles as a woman who was a paraplegic now walking out of the hospital with a walker.

It could be the man who worked at Microsoft who made a major life decision to do a master's program in art, knowing that as he wrote his thesis around identity, that he would be touching a deep nerve in our lives.

It could be the woman that patiently reaches out week after week after week to a community of women that didn't know Jesus or how to follow him, but are now learning to be a powerful trunk to one another as they face major life challenges.

It could be the woman who works in a hospital and every day prays for God's love and power to be present in her to everyone whom she touches or treats.

It could be the Celebrate Recovery Team who have tirelessly ministered week after week for three years, bringing hope to those with hurts, habits and hangups. They model vulnerability and authenticity, creating a safe place for people to come and nest in their branches.

It could be the woman and her partner who are following in blind faith as they develop a conference for women that will help them to go deep in their identity as beloved children of God, and to bravely face their areas of darkness.

It could be my husband and I who have made the sacrificial decision to live in two different places during the week so that I can follow our missional call to lead Missio Lux.

The stories could go on and on. We don't have all the answers, but we are learning what the questions are and we are seeking to follow the One who does have the answers. We don't have a big splashly location, but are quietly day after day, going about the Master's business, quietly bringing light to where he directs us.

I celebrate this year and all the stories we have where God is inviting us into partnership with himself to help bring Kingdom from heaven to earth.

Our Father, who art in Heaven, Hallowed be Your Name.
Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.
Amen!

Pentecost is Here!

2011-06-24T05:00:00.000-07:00

It started out as a beautiful day. We drove to Cougar Mountain in anticipation of what God was going to do when we came intentionally to meet with him on the mountain. In the Bible, when people were serious about meeting God, they went up on the mountain. Think about it: Moses went into God's presence in a cloud when he climbed the mountain. The Psalmist wrote often about meeting God on the mountain. Jesus got transfigured in front of his three disciples on the mountain. We went up high so we could pray into the city below us what we believe God wanted us to declare for the whole Pugent Sound Region.

Many people milled around as they finished up hikes and were just spending time together as family and friends. We began to gather and worship.

Being in God's creation has a way of pulling us into deeper worship as we are reminded just how creative and present God is through his creation. We commissioned 10 Healing Prayer Ministers who have committed themselves to be available to God to help pray for his people to be healed and delivered.

Healing Prayer Ministers from 2010-11

After we worshipped, we moved to the edge of the cliff where we could see down into the city. As we looked into the life taking place, we began to decree what we believed the King wants to do in Seattle and the outermost region. It was interesting to hear the different things that God had laid on each of our hearts: some prayers were for a harvest of people groups, some were for justice such as human trafficking, some were for specific community leaders, others were generally for God to move in tangible ways so that people would KNOW that He is God!

I believe we will make "Meeting God on the Mountain on Pentecost" a yearly tradition because it is powerful to be set apart and to be ready to meet God, just as the first apostles did. When they were ready, they got to see the New Testament Church birthed by a very large worldly harvest!

I can't wait to see what God is going to do this year....as we see our prayers answered.

Preparation for Pentecost: Contemplative Retreat

2011-06-23T05:00:00.000-07:00

John Kiemele is the founder and leader of the Selah Center, www.selahcenter.org, a wonderful place which helps busy Christians make space to meet God. John is extremely gifted as a spiritual director, so we all came in eager anticipation of how John would help us make space for God in our minds, hearts and busy lives.

He started by reading Ezekiel 37 for Lectio Devina. Lectio Devina is a reading of Scripture that involves three readings: first, to hear the words read, second: what stands out to me in this Scripture, third: what is God saying through this passage? Lectio helps us to move from an informational reading to an experience of God speaking.

He also read a poem by Judy Brown:

What makes a fire burn
is space between the logs,
a breathing space.
Too much of a good thing
too may logs
packed in too tight
can douse the flames
almost as surely as a pail of water.

So building fires
require attention
to the spaces in between
as much as to the wood.

When we are able to build
open spaces
in the same way
we have learned
to pile on legs,
then we come to see how
it is fuel, and the abscence of fuel
together, that make fire possible.

We only need to lay a log
lightly from time to time.
A fire grows
simply because the space is there,
with openings
in which the flame
that knows just how it wants to burn
can find its way.

John asked to reflect on this poem as we spent about a half an hour in solitude. It was so interesting to hear the different ways that God spoke to each one of us. My experience was a complete surprise. I had meant to stay inside because I wanted to listen to the music as I reflected, but it was getting warm inside so I went to open the door and before I knew it, I was drawn to a beautiful dogwood bush in full bloom. It was glorious.

But, the Lord had me look down to the leaves on the ground. A layer of leaves a few inches thick were present, they were dry, brittle and about to disintegrate. I felt like the Lord said, "My people are like these dry, brittle leaves because they don't breathe with my Spirit and make space for me to bring life. They are barely hanging on."

After that word, he tilted my face up and showed me the glorious dogwood blooms. He said again, "This is what I want to give my people: life, extraordinary life, that will bring joy and beauty into their lives. When my people make space for me in their lives, they become more glorious than any dogwood bush could ever be. After all, they are made in my image."

And, then he had me stand under the canopy of the blooms. It felt like a sacred moment as I felt like I was the Bride and the Bridegroom was adoring his beautiful bride.

When our contemplative retreat was over; we all walked out the door more relaxed, refreshed and open to God and his work in our lives.

Preparation for Pentecost: Reflections on the Deck

2011-06-21T05:00:00.000-07:00

One of our Pentecost Preparation days involved listening to ecclectic worship music and reflecting on what God was saying to us. Some amazing things came foward: here are a few of them:

Mary Ellen: Write, write write! Blog and Book to my glory amen and amen! the enemy of your soul has been defeated and the unfillment of coveredness has been lifted from your new life. Press into the person of Jesus CHrist. Truth him with whole heart, mind, soul and spirit. Taste and see the goodnews of the Lord. Ea that which I give you so that it may go well with you. Beloved, Precious, Daughter, Holy as I AM, not what you do but what I do in you and thru you. The banner over you is love and the enemy fears and cowers at the sight of the banner. Go forward boldly.

Megan, 17 from Hawaii:
Do I abide in the vine. Might your word carry the sound that I hear it does. When will I really believe the truth? Does truth really hurt? Truth is supposed to be life. Has my shallow human mind believed that satan influenced lies delivered to me by God-fearing people?
How many times do I trip over the same foul lie that truth has died and death is painless? I will lay on the operating table, not to be cut, but to be wrapped in the Vine...and there my faults slip off.

Do a dance for the one you love. Be silly, or else He will get bored! Go on dates, don't do the same thing twice. Let's have fun together because my earth life is short. Let's make the best of this time: when you are away from home. Hey, it's not business at all, it's just our dangerous love story.
Sometimes you come down here, sometimes I have a vacation back home. I like being with you, Megan, a lot. We can run away to the beach.

Jacqueline: Go, make roo, be ready, transplant, make level paths. Godspeed, miracles, upheaval, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Be silent no longer, great grace!

Preparation for Pentecost

2011-06-18T11:53:00.000-07:00

Most of the YWAM Team on the Mountain

We spent 10 days preparing for Pentecost where we traveled up the mountain to meet with God! Our journey of preparation invovled a lot of different experiences: three trips to the mountain to worship and to ask God to meet us through his tangible presence on Pentecost Sunday!

Taylor leads us in worship on the Mountain

We blew dried dandelions as we prayed for where we wanted to see God plant seeds of harvest

We also worshipped and prayed in the valley in various ways. One day, we all went outside to soak in the very rare gift of sun in Seattle in the Spring, listened to a play list of ecclectic music, and journaled our thoughts as we made space for God! (see my next blog for some of the writings that day)

One of our missio communities, Peace Seekers, also spent time doing tangible exercises with the 3dm Lifeshape: Mrs.Gren: Signs of Life! Each letter stands for the life we need to live a vibrant, spiritual life: Movement, Respitory, Sensativity to the Spirit, Growth, Reproduction, Excretion, and Nutrition. (see this lifeshape in greater detail in our resource section of the Missio Lux website)

Writing decrees

We read a daily devotional written by Sarah Lowell....as she helped us to connect the dots from the Old Testament to the New Testament for how Holy Spirit was always present, but now at the Pentecost Feast of Harvests after Jesus ascended to heaven, the disciples literally got to fulfill Jesus' Word to them that they would become fishers of men as they reeled in a catch of passionate Jesus followers.

The Sunday before Pentecost found us doing a Contemplative Retreat with Spiritual Director: John Kiemele, founder and president of the Selah Center: www.selahcenter.org. John led us through many wonderful Scriptures and exercises that prepared our hearts and minds for our appointment with God on the mountain!

On one of the last days that we were able to spend with the YWAM Outreach Team, we opened up the book of Esther and learned how to write decrees; which both Esther and Malachi were able to write for the King. As we learn the know the King's heart and mind, we are able to partner with him to decree those areas where he wants to see his kingdom come from heaven to earth. Jesus taught us to do this in his first prayer that he taught the disciples: "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is (already) in heaven!"

As we went around the room, it was obvious that this team was filled with faith that God can do ANYTHING as they decreed salvation for their families and friends, provision for finances, and breakthrough in ministry.

As we went through the 10 days of preparation for Pentecost, one of my main prayers was "Lord, bring the power we need to reach the world around us; both locally and around the globe."

Easter In Occidental Square Video

2011-06-17T11:33:00.000-07:00

Take a couple of minutes to watch a video of our Easter Banquet at Occidental Square!

LINK TO STORIES ABOUT OCCIDENTAL SQUARE CLICK HERE

The Tree of Life: Fearless Courage in the Face of Fire

2011-06-14T17:40:00.000-07:00

Last week we explored the impact that the first Pentecost made on the disciples. They went from fearful disciples to fearless witnesses. Of course, the argument can be made that these disciples were used to being around the supernatural; after all, they followed Jesus for three years, and saw him do one miracle after another. The disciples themselves even saw a measure of success in miracles when they were sent by Jesus to be his representatives. All of that greatly increased when they received Holy Spirit sealed within them at Pentecost, and they were never the same.

Today, I want to explore the response of the people that John and Peter went back to after their interrogation by the Chief Priests and law makers. Acts 4:23 tells us that “Peter and John, after their release, went back to their own people and reported everything they had said to them.” So, who were these people that were called “their own people?”

Scripture doesn’t tell us exactly, but we can deduce that they were Jewish people, probably even from an area in Galilee or in close proximity. They most likely were not educated; or even world savvy. They were probably farmers who had experienced very little persecution in their lives.

In other words, they were ordinary people doing ordinary things.

This is what makes their response after hearing John and Peter’s report so extraordinary. Think about it. If you were part of a group and your leaders were just threatened, imprisoned and commanded to no longer share their message, what would you do? Would you do some quality control and make concessions or would you back down completely, deciding the risk was too great for yourself, your family and your finances?

Or, would you do what they did? They began to praise God and declare that everything in the universe was his. Then, they made a very bold statement by asking Jesus to “consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your words with great boldness. And, oh by the way, can you also release more healing and signs and wonders through the name of Jesus?”

It was the miracle of the lame man walking that got Peter and John in trouble in the first place, and then their testimony about Jesus that followed it. And, now these ordinary people are asking for the privilege to go through the very fire that John and Peter just walked through. They prayed for more persecution so that the good news of Jesus will go into more places and more lives will turn to follow him.

I just keep wondering, “Do I have what they had?” Do I have fearless courage in the fire? Do I have the perseverance I need to walk out my call to follow Jesus, no matter what happens? Can I be faithful?

Do you ever wonder about it? What if our country wasn’t free and the cost for following Jesus was to lose our jobs, or to be imprisoned, or even to die? Is he really more important than everything else in our lives?

I’ve been walking through a lot of fire in my life recently. It’s not life threatening persecution but it’s been a lot of challenges that have continued to come at me in pretty much rapid fire; enough so that I don’t get to catch my breath in between each volley of fire. This weekend I was tempted to cry out “Uncle” enough already, but when I turned to Jesus and asked for his help, he was so gracious to point me to a word of encouragement that pointed me to perseverance: read it with me from 2^nd Thessalonians 1:

Dear brothers and sisters, we can’t help but thank God for you, because your faith is flourishing and your love for one another is growing. ⁴ We proudly tell God’s other churches about your endurance and faithfulness in all the persecutions and hardships you are suffering. ⁵ And God will use this persecution to show his justice and to make you worthy of his Kingdom, for which you are suffering. ⁶ In his justice he will pay back those who persecute you.

⁷ And God will provide rest for you who are being persecuted and also for us when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven. . . .

¹⁰ When he comes on that day, he will receive glory from his holy people—praise from all who believe. And this includes you, for you believed what we told you about him.

¹¹ So we keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of his call. May he give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do. ¹² Then the name of our Lord Jesus will be honored because of the way you live, and you will be honored along with him. This is all made possible because of the grace of our God and Lord, Jesus Christ.

That word was like a warm bath; it soothed and encouraged me and gave me the strength I needed to get back up and face the next challenge that came towards me.

Perhaps one day, I will truly have the fearless courage under fire that these ordinary people in Acts 4 had as they became bold, powerful, witnesses that not only spoke the good news but demonstrated it in signs, wonders and miracle healings.

What about you? Where does your faith muscle need to be developed so that you too, can say, to the fire of life or persecution, bring on more, I am ready to face whatever comes? What needs to happen to help you get to that point?

Remember, you are not alone. You literally have Holy Spirit dwelling in you, giving you everything you need to face each day. Meditate on these Scriptures this week as you let them permeate each area of your life that isn’t quite ready for the fire that you may be currently walking in or you may face in the near future.

2 Thessalonians 3:3

³ But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.

1 John 4:18

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

1 Corinthians 10:13

And God is faithful; he will not let you be temptedbeyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted,he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

Isaiah 43:1-2:

But now, this is what the LORD says—
he who created you, Jacob,
he who formed you, Israel:
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
² When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.

John 10:10

The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

1^st John 4:4

But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.

1 Peter 1:7

⁷ These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

And, finally, don’t forget about your trunk: the part of the Tree of Life that is our community, our support system. Share your struggles and ask for prayer. Last night after a team meeting, they gathered literally all around me forming a circle of prayer and bathed me in their love and prayers for God to strengthen me for the battle.

Go in courage in Jesus name!

Reflections on Impact of Pentecost

2011-06-07T12:07:00.001-07:00

In order to realize the extreme breakthrough that Pentecost was to the disciples and to the first century followers of Jesus, we look to Peter. I love Peter because he often reminds me of myself.

Peter never held back: he was the first one to jump out of the water to walk on it; he was the first one to declare that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of the Living God; he was the first one to cut off the slave’s ear in the Garden of Gethsemane while Jesus was being arrested. Peter was full of passion for Jesus and life! Sometimes that got him in trouble, but life was never dull when Peter was around.

He was also the first one to declare that he was willing to die with Jesus. That’s a pretty bold statement, and I am sure he believed it when he said it. However, when push came to shove, after cutting off the slave’s ear, he ended up running away from Jesus, not dying for him.

He didn’t run far, however. He ended up in the courtyard of the High Priest where Jesus was being interrogated. His friend John got him in. Within minutes, a servant girl asked Peter if he was one of Jesus’ followers. Peter denied it. A little while later, she brought it up again in front of others. Peter said emphatically, “I don’t’ know what you are talking about.”

About an hour later, some of the others in the courtyard said, “You must know him because you have the Galilean accent. “ Peter actually said “A curse on me if I am lying, I do not know the man” (Mark 14).

Now, let me ask you something, does this seem like a man ready to go to his death for Jesus? No, Peter got filled with fear and it immobilized him. He experienced the heartache of Jesus turning and looking at him as the rooster crowed, just as Jesus had prophesied.

Peter ran away and cried bitter tears. He knew that he had allowed fear to overcome his faith, and he had betrayed the most important person in his life at his moment of greatest need.

Let’s fast forward to the day of Pentecost. Where do we find Peter? He is cowering in a room out of fear any longer; he is in the center of the action. He has run from the Upper Room into the Temple Courtyard as he experiences the Holy Spirit entering his body and sealing himself within Peter.

It is with that supernatural empowerment that Peter is able to stand up and give a great sermon: one that I would love to give: over 3,000 people give their lives to Jesus and become baptized after it. The first People Harvest of Pentecost has taken place!

If that isn’t proof of a transformed man, the following chapters in Acts shows us the new Peter; one that isn’t afraid of anything. Peter and his friend John are arrested after healing a lame man who sat begging for 38 years in front of the Temple Gate Beautiful.

Peter and John are tried before the highest authority in their earthly world: the High Priest and Jewish Rulers; this would be like us meeting with the Supreme Court. They were told that they were forbidden to talk or teach about Jesus again. Acts 5 tells us that “Peter filled with the Holy Spirit answered them and said that ‘We will obey God rather than you. We cannot stop telling about the wonderful things that we have seen and heard.’”

If this isn’t enough, Peter and John went immediately on their release to their praying friends and told them the story. They told them about the threat to not talk about Jesus again, and the whole room started praying.

Listen to their prayer and imagine how you would respond if your life had just been threatened: them “And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word. 30 Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

Peter not only didn’t back down to their threats, he prayed for greater boldness to continue to proclaim Jesus and pray for his miracles to take place through him so that others would come to know Jesus too.
The passage concludes with God’s answer to their prayer: “After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:29-31).

How did Peter move from a fearful disciple to a fearless witness? He did it through the “Holy Spirit who moved into body and took up residence within him.” He was no longer an ordinary man doing ordinary things; now, he was a harvesting representative of Jesus himself because Peter’s life began to look a lot like Jesus’ life on earth.

It is the same with us. We are no longer ordinary people doing ordinary things; no, we are kingdom representatives for King Jesus. We have the supernatural empowerment that Peter did. We have the ability to stand before rulers of every land as we witness to Jesus’ saving power, and his ability to heal and deliver.

The more that we make space for God to work in our lives; focusing on his power within us, and not our own inadequacies, we will see greater and greater harvest and miracles take place.

The more that we align our mind with God’s Word, rather than our own messages or what the world tells us; the more that we will see supernatural empowerment take us into business meetings, raising our children, serving our community and celebrating Jesus in worship.

Take time Sunday to celebrate the birth of the New Testament Church with Pentecost. Study Acts 1-2. Spend time reflecting on Peter and his miraculous transformation. Let the Lord show you where he has transformed you. Recognize the reality of his Presence within you. Reflect on 2nd Corinthians 3:7-18.

And, if you live in the Seattle area, come to Meet God on the Mountain as we celebrate Pentecost~you may never be the same! See www.missiolux.org for more details!

Dinner for 15 in 5: Life in Community

2011-06-01T09:26:00.000-07:00

Caitlin starting off the dinner that came together in 5!

Missio Lux has been enjoying our time with the YWAM Team from Kona, Hawaii who is doing a West Coast outreach. We've spent many times together getting to know one another, praying , worshipping, and of course, eating together--alot!

Yesterday, I got a text from the leader, Alex, who wanted to know if there was food for our gathering last night. We hadn't planned dinner, but I texted back, "Come on over and I will get pizza." After the text was out of my phone, I started to wonder, "How am I going to put that together?" My afternoon was full to the moment they got there.

But, no worries because God is so much bigger than a meal challenge. I texted a few members of our Healing Prayer Community to come on over for pizza, and within 5 minutes, Dave said he would get pizza, Judy had a cake to bring, Rosemary would bring a salad, and so would Barb!

Sounds like a complete meal to me! and, the best part is that they all came in and got everything ready while I finished up my work.

This is what it looks like to live in community with one another. We know where we keep each other's silverware or water pitchers. We walk in without standing at the door, waiting for it to be opened. We clean up the chairs and the mess before we leave. It's a comfort level that doesn't have to wait to be invited.

And, for me, it is an openness with our home that welcomes everyone who comes across the threshold as family. It is a sense of everything I have is yours....I will share it with you!

We worshipped and worshipped last night. No one wanted to leave because we had such a strong sense of God's love and presence amongst us. but, the worship actually started at the table when we gathered around a wonderful dinner that appeared as miraculously as the loaves and fishes that turned into a meal for 5,000!

Reflections on Planting for Pentecost

2011-05-31T17:12:00.000-07:00

It always puzzles me why we don’t focus more on Pentecost as Jesus’ followers. I view it as the most significant day of our faith after Easter. It is the day that the New Testament Church was born. And, it wasn’t a baby that came weakly struggling into the world; no, the New Testament Church came with fire, literally, and with power and multiplied over 3,000 times!

In the Old Testament, the Jewish people celebrate the Feast of Pentecost, which was the feast of harvests. It occurred 50 days after Passover. Isn’t it interesting that it was a feast to celebrate the harvest and that is exactly what took place on the first Pentecost when the Holy Spirit literally entered into people. The people were gathered to celebrate the long honored Harvest feast, but they actually became the harvest themselves as they stepped into a place of belief of Jesus as Savior and King. Over 3,000 people were baptized that day in the Temple Square and the New Testament Church was born.

Why was the event of Pentecost necessary and important? Up until that moment, people were given the Holy Spirit for specific assignments, but no one had the privilege of living with Holy Spirit permanently sealed within them. King David even prayed to the Lord, “Don’t take your Holy Spirit from me” (Ps 51:11). Jesus didn’t even receive the Holy Spirit until his baptism at age 30. Can you imagine living our life of faith without the power to do it?

Have you ever thought about the fact that most of the four Gospels were written in the Old Testament ways? It wasn’t until Jesus died and was resurrected and Pentecost happened that the crossover took place from the Old Testament law to the New Testament covenant.

When Jesus told his disciples in Luke 9 that he was sending them out with his power and authority to cast out demons, cure diseases, proclaim the Kingdom of God and heal the sick, they received temporary empowerment. They did see huge results in their “missions trip,” as they came back saying, “Lord, even the demons submit to your name” (Luke 10:17). The reality, however, was that if they didn’t continue to walk with Jesus and receive his empowerment, they would quickly go back into the place of being very ordinary men doing very ordinary things.

Everything changed when Jesus breathed his last breath on the cross and said it was finished. Everything to that second in history was preparation for that moment! When Jesus didn’t stay in the grave but came back to life, all the rules for how to walk out the Jewish faith fell to the ground to make room for a new way of life: the way of relationship, grace and forgiveness!

Jesus spent 40 days after he was resurrected hanging out with his disciples, and even a few hundred other people, as he prepared them for their new way of life. He could have released Holy Spirit to his disciples before he ascended into heaven, but instead he told them to “Go and wait and pray for the gift my Father has promised.”

Why was this important? Here’s the way that I understand it. Jesus was a living, breathing reality of how you can live a supernatural life in a human body. He went to the cross as a human; not as God. He lived out perfect obedience through learning to partner with Holy Spirit as a human being.

Listen to how Paul describes it in Philppians 2:6-8: “Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. ⁷ Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form,⁸ he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.”

Jesus modeled for us how we are to live. We can’t dismiss his call to do the things that he has done, and even greater things that those (John 14), because Jesus had something separate from what we carry. No, he had the same Holy Spirit that we have; there is no difference. Jesus taught us that when we partner with Holy Spirit, despite our human body, magnificent things happen to point to the Kingdom of God present amongst us.

However, just like the disciples, we need to be prepared to carry such a significant call. It takes being willing to be “set apart” for times when we are able to let the demands of life become less noisy and the invitation of Jesus and his kingdom ways to become more enticing.

If Jesus had released Holy Spirit that day on the Mt of Olives before he ascended to heaven, the disciples would have missed the impact of the preparation that came with the 10 days of being gathered and waiting for the Father’s promise.

What do you think that they did during those 10 days?

I imagine that they spent time worshipping as they had just seen the supernatural miracle of Jesus ascending into heaven. I think that they spent time imagining what the Father’s Promise would be like, and how it would happen. I think that they told stories of their life with Jesus as they began to get clear about all the things he taught them that they didn’t understand even a little bit while he was on earth. I wonder if they started sharing communion together as it was Jesus command to them to celebrate it often. I think that many of the dots that before seemed like a random pattern began to become a clear and compelling picture of why following Jesus was the most exciting adventure on earth.

I wonder if any of them got tired of waiting and left. I wonder if they were fearful of the unknown. I wonder if they figured out that the promise would happen on Pentecost as faithful Jewish people literally came from all over the world to worship and sacrifice at the Temple. Do you realize that 16 languages and locations are listed in Acts 2? In one day, the New Testament Church of Jesus became a movement that dramatically impacted the earth and continues to do the same today.

This is why Missio Lux has a call to follow the way of Jesus and the disciples like that first Pentecost. We have the opportunity to prepare ourselves for the gift that the Father has for us this year; as we realize the tremendous way that he is moving amongst us and calling us to move.

We have developed several ways for you to wait, pray and prepare for Pentecost starting Friday, June 3. www.missiolux.org

Even if you live out of town, come along for as much as you can do from afar. Go to the top of a mountain or hill where you live and proclaim that your area is set apart for God’s harvest to come forth! When you do that, you will be joining God’s kingdom people in other places who desire to see a present day Pentecost Harvest that resembles that first one over 2,000 years ago!

A Day Without Water

2011-05-28T05:00:00.000-07:00

This blog was written by Laurie Bunnel on http://www.laurieonlifestyle.blogspot.com/

A family we've known for years is what most people would consider "well off." Their lives keep them on the run and sometimes chaos ensues. The other day their teenage daughter was ready to jump in the shower and there was no water. After trying to figure out what was going on, they realized that the water bill was lost- MIA- Shoved in a pile somewhere and never paid.

Hence, a day without water.

I started thinking, maybe we all need a day without water? Like I need one more thing to do, but it seems like it has potential - if not for a great movement, at least a cool url like: www.DayWithoutH2O.org

Yesterday Arok from Sudan told our Peace Seekers community about how the girls and women in his village walk 45 minutes for water. This is not like the stories our parents told us about walking sixty miles to school in the snow uphill both ways. These are real girls in a real place walking really far for really dirty water.

Its not just Arok's village. One in eight people in the world don't have access to clean drinking water. Now that our planet has 7 billion people, that is A LOT of people with no H2O. Yet for those of us that get water out of the shower when we turn it on, we don't even think about it. I spent a month being frustrated that our ice machine didn't work and I'd miss my dish washer even for a day.

Do you know how to turn off the water at your house? What would happen if we turned off the water for just one day? I know we would stink and yes certain rooms in our house would stink even more, the dishes would pile up, but really? Maybe it would make us all think. Maybe we'd be more thankful and more careful. Perhaps we'd waste less and be even more generous. Once inspired, maybe our kids will design and invent new ways of providing and cleaning water.

Now where did that water bill go?

Response to Reflection on the Person of Peace

2011-05-26T05:00:00.000-07:00

The following is an email that I received from the reflection on the Person of Peace. It's a great reminder about why it is more important to pray first, and to be moving in sync with how Jesus modeled evangelism. Sometimes we can do far more harm than good when we seek to witness~ I invite you to join many others who are committing themselves to pray at 10:02 each morning for God to bring forth the Harvesters. Why 10:02? It relates to Luke 10:02 where Jesus commands his disciples to pray for the "God to bring forth the harvesters, because the fields are ripe for harvest."

Wow, that devotional this morning was powerful to me and the best explanation I've heard in my life about evangelism. Thank you for taking the time to write it. Not coincidently I finished reading it at exactly 10:02 this morning! I observed the time and thought, well why not spend some moments in focused prayer.

My prayer room is the rarely used guest room, small, mostly unfurnished now except a long low hutch upon which I will place a globe of the world, my prayer shaw I keep in a wooden box and use on occasion. I was trying to fast every Sunday and introduce that discipline but since my move back I've not done it. I will as the Lord leads and helps me. the room has no windows, is quite free from distractions and I can pace around because I suppose I have a bit of ADHD and could not sit still ever.

I, too. was forced to go door to door and so painfully shy I couldn't look at people it was extremely stressful to me as a child. I've felt compelled to "witness" to people who were not interested and embarrassed by my red face horror of having to talk to strangers. now that I think of it, it was probably dangerous for a young child to go door to door without an adult nearby to observe. As a teenager in Alaska, I felt compelled out of my own extreme legalism to go to the airports with gospel tracks and give them to the 100s of young soldiers at the last stop before going to Vietnam. What that got me as a fit 16 year old girl was catcalls, stares, lewd comments and older teenage men trying to prove their manhood to their buddies by treating me as an object. I began to passionately HATE "GI's" and consider them barbaric and animal like.

Eventually I retreated to a cabin in the woods because I love solitude and found those "witnessing" marathons extremely scarring to me. Needless to say no one ever got converted at least not to my knowledge. And when I went to Evergreen College, a school that pegs itself as the "Queer Capital of the World" we had a bull horn evangelist too that came out to be mocked and jeered while yelling harshly they were all going to burn in hell. It was a pathetic demonstration of hatred on all sides. Into this history, comes your devotional bringing some clarity.

I also related to the idle chitchat. I have a daughter, quite estranged from God (well maybe just the religious trappings) that got a job with several very outspoken evangelicals. I was delighted but after 2 years of hearing their tea party obsessively anti O'bama political rantings and hatred of gays (her father is gay) she left that job hating Christians, (hating is not too strong a word here) Their idle chatter demonstrating bizarre extreme republican right politics shut down any possible opportunity a Christian could have had to model some sort of behavior that gave evidence of a supernatural life. It was a lesson to me as well to not get embroiled in idle political debates. Politics come and go, souls live once.

This woman's email was a great reminder to me of the different ways that we can "think we are on the right track," but later find out that our good intentions were for naught. I hope it is helpful to those who read it!

Reflections on Walking with God

2011-05-24T12:27:00.000-07:00

Missio Lux has been privileged to have some YWAM (Youth With a Mission) Students with us for the past couple of weeks. I love being around them because their passion for Jesus is so compelling. I have a strong sense of God’s presence when I am around them.

We are nearing the end of the ministry year, so it’s always a time of year when I do a lot of reflecting on how I’ve seen God at work ; in the seasons he has taken myself and others through, as well as Missio Lux as a whole.

Yesterday I realized that God has a way of taking us through our life with him in 3 P’s: Presence, Power and Principles. The Scriptures speak of God’s presence with us from start to finish, but I particularly like the verse in Joshua 1:9 that says, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” We can live confidently because God is present with us.

The New Testament takes this theme even deeper when we realize that God loves our presence so much that he takes us residence within us: “Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, 22 set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come” (2 Cor 1:21-22). Jesus describes this living relationship in John 15 when he states, “I am the vine and you are the branches. Those who live with me, and I in them, will produce much fruit.” Think about that: God chooses to literally come and live in our bodies. He is always present with us!

The second P is Power. When Jesus was ready to return to heaven he told the disciples, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). We have been given power to live the life that Jesus taught us to live, and many times we see ourselves doing things through the Holy Spirit power that we never dreamed we could do. Life gets far more adventurous when God’s power is released through us.

Finally, the 3rd P is: Principles. The Bible is a handbook for life in how we are taught to live. Many of the principles that our lives are built on, even as Americans, come from the principles of how Jesus teaches us to live. He gave us two priorities: the Great Commandment (love God, love ourselves, love others) and the Great Commission: Go and make disciples. Out of those priorities, principles flow of justice, mercy, grace, love, and generosity, to name just a few. Jesus told us that he didn’t come to abolish the law of Moses, but to fulfill it. The 10 Commandments are the heart of the law of Moses and when we live out of their guidance, we are protected from many of the things that harm our lives if we engage them. I like to think of them as God’s boundaries put in place to protect us.

Presence, Power and Principles.

I find that we often want to separate out these three areas of our life with God as one of these areas tends to make certain groups or individuals uncomfortable. Some people get nervous if too much “presence” is present. Others get antsy as they think about principles and how by living by rules, we can get legalistic and judgmental. Others shy away from anything to do with God’s power because often it can be overwhelming and scary.

I believe, however, that we must learn to integrate all three areas into our lives. It is when we live out of the moment to moment presence of God that we are able to discern how his power is moving and to cooperate with it to see kingdom breakthrough take place. And, living with Jesus’ principles as our foundational base keeps our funnel clear so that we can experience God’s presence and move out of his power. When our lives are far from God’s principles, we will find ourselves pushing against brick walls that never seem to budge.

You may be wondering how do we practically live out the 3Ps. Good question! It comes through living a balanced life that Jesus teaches us to live. He taught us to worship his father in spirit and truth. As we worship in spirit, we are moving more intentionally in experiencing his presence which transfigures us. As we worship in truth, we are engaging his Word which helps us to understand and live out Jesus’ principles. As we center our lives on Jesus and his ways, we begin to see his power rising up in us in the most unusual of moments, because we are available to him.

Finally, life with Jesus is not meant to be lived on our own. When we experience God’s presence in community with others, it spurs us forward to want to live a life aligned with his principles. When we see God’s principles being lived out in a community, it becomes attractive to others and it grows. And, when God’s power is present, transformation and healing happen.

In the early days of the New Testament Church, the leaders John and Peter were arrested and taken before the Jewish High Priest and Council. They were challenged not to speak about Jesus anymore or to boldly move in his power. When they were released, they came back to their community and told them what had happened and the threats that were made against them. The community responded in the 3P’s: Power, Presence and Principles when they prayed, “And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word. Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:29-32).

I hope that this will be our response to times of struggle and even persecution; as it was for these Jesus followers. It comes through an intentional decision to live daily as Jesus taught us to live through his presence, his power and his principles through Scripture. How are you balancing the 3p’s in your life?