Holy Week: Preparing our Hearts

As a society, we spend little time in contemplation. We're busy, so busy that we usually just run ourselves ragged right up until a moment of significance and hope that the depth of the moment will leap out at us. It doesn't work. The important moment hustles past with the rest of life and we are left with a somewhat hallow experience.

Without proper anticipation we cannot feel the excitement and full impact of resolution!

As Christians, we are days away from the most important celebration of our faith. We'll be planning family events and purchasing new Easter outfits, meanwhile, our hearts are left unprepared for the climax of the Christian year.

Don't let the Resurrection sneak up on you! Take this week to quiet your hearts and minds and give yourself over to the story and anticipation. On Sunday we celebrated Palm Sunday and let our hearts be glad for the arrival of the King! Later this week we meditate on the Passion of our Lord, as He willingly went to the cross. And, then we wait, with solemn anticipation for the moment the whole world has waited for...the Resurrection!

Here are some resources to help you prepare your heart this week:

• HOLY WEEK: Daily devotions and scripture readings are available on The Urban Ministry Institute's online Church Year Annual. For Holy Week visit here. 
• PALM SUNDAY: A sermon by Rev. Dr. Don L. Davis (sermons available late Monday or Tuesday of each week)
• GOOD FRIDAY: I prepared a booklet for personal or corporate meditation. Good Friday:Meditation and Prayer on the Last Seven Sayings of Christ. (It is meant to be printed double sided and folded in the middle in booklet form.)

Let's beat back the frantic pace of life this week in exchange for a deep anticipation of the greatest moment of our faith!

Set the World on Fire

Driving in the car, listening to Lacrae's song "Fuego" I suddenly thought, how did we get here? Dull and impotent shadows of ourselves, a society of Christians more concerned with the safety of morality than living in the power of the God of the universe. The holy fire of the Spirit being suffocated inside our need for control, when it should be consuming us from the inside out, setting the world on fire with God's glory.

I mean, do we even look like who we are? The fathers and mothers of the faith taught us that being a Christian means so much more than following a moral code, attending church services, and volunteering. During the explosion of the early church, we saw a birth of a people who were wild with abandon, embracing the cross rather than running from it. Christians were families who walked the outskirts of town looking for abandoned babies who were left to die, carrying them home and raising them as their own. Christians were those torn to pieces by lions in Rome. Christians were the apostles, preaching to thousands and boldly declaring truth to persecuting authorities. Christians are missionaries who go to their deaths, even as they take the Gospel to the ends of the earth. Christians openly embrace the sick and the dying. Christians burn at the stake. Christians embrace sinners with Christ-like redeeming love.

We are Christians.

When did we become so domesticated? We've lost our first love...Jesus. Instead we love tame and controllable morality. We love love that doesn't take us to the cross.

What the heck are we doing?

Kevin DeYoung says it well, “The world needs to see Christians burning, not with self-righteous fury at the sliding morals in our country, but with passion for God.” We must unleash the fire in our heart and let the Spirit burn through all the safety nets we've built for ourselves, until all we can see is God's hands holding us.

Then we'll have nothing to live for but Jesus and He can use that kind of abandon to set the world on fire with His glory. To quote Lacrae, "Get your torches high let's set ablaze the sky/Passion's a fire bright and we'll be burning forever/Set the world on fire."

Lecrae "Fuego"

Lent: A Call to Freedom and Maturity

This Lenten season I have been thinking a lot about freedom in Christ. Perhaps, not a completely traditional theme for Lent, but I've been pondering the sense of freedom that comes when you release everything that is not Christ.

I am in Christ, and therefore free of the pull that the world has on me. I am free from fighting for my personal "rights," free from expectations about my life, free from materialism...all things the world promises will bring fulfillment, yet, do not. And still, my flesh spends so much of my waning energy on things that don't matter, when Christ offers me a yoke that is easy, and a burden that is light (Matt. 11.30). It is for freedom that Christ set us free (Gal. 5.1)!

Recently, God has been speaking to our family about release...release from the things that hinder us from following Christ wholly. The way our culture feeds us lies about our rights and our need for comforts, it seems counter-intuitive to find joy and freedom in the absence of these things, but there is. We are experiencing it a little more each day.

Lent reminds us that we can be gloriously free from everything that is not Christ, but, it also exhorts us to a maturity that accepts all that is.

Freedom comes at a cost, namely Christ's, but Lent is a season that we remind ourselves that, as followers of Christ, we share in the lowliness and suffering of Christ as well. How can we expect to share in the freedom and not in the lowliness?

Yet, even in this there is freedom--the freedom to choose maturity and the road to Calvary, as Christ did. In Gethsemane our Lord prayed, "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will." (Mat. 26:39). Christ chose to drink from the cup of suffering. Only hours before he asked His disciples to also share in this cup at the Lord's Supper. It is offered to you and to me as well. Will we drink of the cup Christ shared in, or do we imagine ourselves exempt?

In Christ we are free to choose freedom in the Spirit or to choose the bondage of our flesh. It seems like an obvious choice, but it takes maturity in Christ to find the resolve to do it, for choosing to walk in the Spirit, as in Christ's life, will often lead us directly into suffering.

Yet, Lent also reminds us that our God did not call us to a path He was not Himself willing to walk. We follow the footsteps of Jesus Christ, who was unwavering in His journey to the cross. He offers to walk beside us if we will hold on to His hand with everything we have. As Christians, our greatest aim is to be like Christ. So, let us use this season to refocus and recommit ourselves to the path He, and so many saints before us, have trod...the lowly path to eternal glory.

This Lent faithfully walk in freedom, walk in maturity, walk in humility, knowing that our Lord walks with us.

For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.”

Isaiah 41:13

Too Much Stuff to Go?

Recently, Andrew and I have been talking about how ready we are to answer God's call. We determined that we aren't as ready as we thought.

Our years as inner-city missionaries and the last year of transition have helped us look at things different, it's true, but we have so much more to learn. We never expected to leave St. Louis, but we have since realized that we weren't really thinking like missionaries. A missionary is on a mission, and any good mission has a beginning, middle, and, most importantly, an end. The last thing a good missionary should ever do is become entrenched. This is not to say that staying in one place for a long period of time is a bad thing, but it should be done because God directs it, not because it's hard to leave. Staying should be as active a decision as leaving and we must be ready to stay or to go at God's command.

Along with a change in thinking we realized that we needed a lifestyle change. If we are to be ready to be on mission, we need to be able to travel light. WE. DO. NOT. TRAVEL. LIGHT. We have stuff upon stuff--too much stuff. It's happened gradually, mainly because we don't get rid of things. We both get sentimental and I'm cheap...if I paid for it once I don't want to have to buy it again someday. But, it's hard to move stuff and I cringe when I think about ever having to move again. If stuff becomes a hindrance to joyfully following my Savior then it's got to go! Plus, Andrew heard a news story about clutter where the "expert" reminded people that almost everything that clutters up our homes can be replaced for $20 in 20 min, which I have found to be fairly accurate as I mentally catalog our junk.

So, we have begun a purge project in our house. I'm sure what we feel is a huge cut may still seem small to others, but we have to start somewhere. What it really requires is a lifestyle change, which is a process, but we are committed to making a change!

The last thing we would ever want is for stuff to be the reason we can't follow (or don't want to follow) Jesus anywhere He may ask us to go.

A Psalm of Mama

A song of the exhausted mother. Accompanied by the piercing cries of small children and dinner boiling over on the stove.

O, Lord, I feel weary and oppressed. 
My patience has withered beneath a sun that seems never to set;
    the relief of bedtime always just out of reach.
I am assaulted with questions until I feel I will go mad.
I have grown weary of my own name.
The "Mama" that once made me glad,
    has become a scourge upon my ears.
Little hands and crying faces press in on me from all sides;
    I am surrounded by needs that are never satiated.
Dishes and laundry conspire against me--
    multiplying at an impossible rate.
I am in a desperate way.
My only sanctuary is the bathroom,
    while a little person stands outside the door asking,
    "What are you doing in there?"
Even a full night's sleep cannot banish this exhaustion.
Will I ever again complete a day feeling sane?


I am done in, yet, I will not despair;
    the Lord is my true salvation,
    because Dora the Explorer only lasts twenty-four minutes.
Patience elludes me except by Your Spirit,
    and gentleness in the face of blatent disobedience is what I long for.
I will take joy in the moments when "Mama" is accompanied by "I love you,"
    and not, "I pooped in my pants."
I will meditate on Your words--
    the ones printed on the decorative plaque,
    across from the couch,
    where I find my glassy-eyed, quiet place while my child naps.
When my alarm clock wakes me from a dead sleep,
    and I am tempted to curse the sun's consistency,
    I will try to remember this is the day the Lord has made,
    and children are a blessing from the Lord,
    and then REJOICE,
    for soon these years will be gone and I will miss them--
    proof that motherhood really does kill brain cells.

Selah.

Keep Calm and Suffer On

If there's anything we hate, it's suffering.  If there's anything I hate, it's suffering.  Our natural desire is to avoid pain.  Most of the pursuit of the modern world is comfort.  We would have a hard time identifying our actual needs, because they are regularly met and then forgotten in the unending sea of wants.

In late 1939, after the outbreak of war, the British government appointed the design of several morale-boosting posters.  Two of the three posters designed were published, the third was reserved in case Britain was invaded by Germany.  Under the image of the crown it read "Keep Calm and Carry On."  Presumably, the message being, Stay calm, the king remains...the kingdom remains...so brace yourself and keep on keepin' on.  Since there was no invasion, the poster was not widely seen by the public until an original copy was rediscovered in 2000.  Now there are "Keep Calm and Carry On" mugs, t-shirts, and phone covers, along with myriads of parodies on the phrase.  (Ironically, the message is printed on luxury items, the demand for which says something about our culture's idea of trials...but that's a discussion for another day.)

Even in the mad pursuit to free our lives of suffering, something about the message to "Keep Calm and Carry On" apparently resonates with us.  As Americans we aren't facing a military invasion but in the face of the day's trials we still like a reminder that life goes on, because we can't avoid it, suffering finds us.  The world seeks to manage the pain, minimize its impact and carry on with the pursuit of comfort.  The problem is that a pursuit of comfort leaves us walking out of step with our Savior, whose path led Him straight into suffering and death.

This year God has been teaching me a lot about suffering, some through personal experience, and a lot through the example of men and women of faith throughout history.  One day, while pondering suffering the "Keep Calm" slogan came to mind and I decided I'd add my adaptation of the phrase to the mix: "Keep Calm and Suffer On."  My interpretation being what Peter wrote in 1 Peter 4:12-14--

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of  Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

Often, pain hits me and I first feel shock.  This can't be happening to me!  No one else is enduring such trials!   Yet, Peter tells me that the appropriate response is a calm knowledge that suffering is normal for followers of Christ!  It isn't strange and certainly shouldn't be unexpected.  Paraphrasing of course, he first says "Keep calm, this is normal."  Then he says something totally counter-intuitive, (again, paraphrasing), "Suffer on!  Embrace your suffering, knowing it brings you to experience the glory of God."  In other words, the King remains...the Kingdom remains...suffer with purpose, so that you may know Christ more fully.

If we're all being honest, this probably makes you as uncomfortable as it does me.  However, if Christ suffered, why should we think ourselves exempt?  Why should we want to be exempt?  The way of the cross is our calling.  It's what we signed up for.  Do not be shocked.  Do not get bitter.  Do not try to minimize the impact of suffering.  Embrace it, knowing that through perseverance your character and faith will grow. 

I'm currently reading a book called He Leadeth Me, written by a Jesuit priest who felt God call him to serve in Russia in the 1930s.  While pursuing this mission, in the midst of World War II, he was captured, held in solitary confinement and relentlessly interrogated for five years, then spent the next 18 years in a labor camp in Siberia.  Most of his experience was wrestling with the will of God and learning how to bring God glory and serve others in the face of suffering.  He writes, "Pain and suffering...become a means of...fostering peace and conformity to God's will, for they are seen as the continuation of Christ's passion...as purposeful, redemptive, healing acts by which the world is reconciled to the will of the Father." It is a challenging read.  But as I broaden my understanding of the world-wide Christian experience, I am realizing that the perceived safety and comfort of our American culture can, more often than not, distract us from our call to the cross. 

What are we willing to sacrifice for the pursuit of Christ?  Are we continuing Christ's passion to reconcile the world to our Father, no matter the cost?  There is no time to waste...lives are at stake.

Fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, brace yourself, keep calm and suffer on.  It is for the glory of the One who paved the way for us and who shared in our suffering, even unto death.  The King remains and through Him we shall inherit the glories of heaven!  We were not made for this world, our comfort lies ahead of us.  May our suffering gain souls for eternity and press us to count "everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus [our] Lord. For his sake [we] have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that [we] may gain Christ" (Phil. 3:8).

Two Faithful Sams and a Bunch of Felons

It's easy to think the things we do every day make no difference. Rarely do we get to see more than the shallow footprints of where we have been.  It's other people, heroes of the faith, who see miraculous things, not normal folk like us.  But recently, I've been thinking a lot about how the "heroes of the faith" often didn't do one magnificent thing.  They walked faithfully and each day their footprints sunk deeper into the sand with the weight of their faith.  Each year, people followed their example and, pretty soon, the single set of footprints became the imprint of a movement...all because they were faithful and kept walking where God led.

Since we have started serving with TUMI this idea has been on my mind.  Much of what we do is missional in a theoretical sense.  We create resources and structures to facilitate the training of urban leaders for church planting movements, but this doesn't mean that we don't see first-hand God moving in amazing ways.  Recently, I was struck by the story of two men, who just by being faithful, have impacted the Kingdom in big ways...and TUMI has had the honor to participate.

Last week Warden Sam Cline came to visit TUMI and speak to World Impact staff about the prison in Hutchinson, Kansas.  It is truly amazing what God is doing there.  Through the simple, Christ-like belief that prisoners deserve dignity Warden Cline is changing prison culture.  The U.S. recidivism rate is over 60%, but because Warden Cline works to provide enrichment programs for his inmates, partners with godly business-owners to provide work for them, and takes every opportunity for Christ to be made known, the recidivism rate at Hutchinson is just over 30%.  Now, wardens all over the country are looking to Sam Cline, as a leader in prison reform.  All because he was faithful to the godly principle that every life is sacred to Christ...even the felon's.

Warden Cline is offering up an entire section of the prison to be used for the new TUMI satellite that will launch soon behind their bars.  Square footage is hard to come by in a prison, but Warden Cline believes strongly that God will change men's hearts and believes in TUMI's vision to train up indigenous leaders for Christ's church.

Warden Sam Cline believes in the vision of TUMI because another Sam was faithful even in less than ideal circumstances in his own life.  Due to a tragic, accidental event that led to the death of his wife, Sam found himself in Ellsworth prison (where Sam Cline was then warden).  Possessing a Master's degree from seminary and a Ph.D. in Agriculture, and a faithful Christian heart, Sam quickly began to use his academic skills and leadership to launch the first TUMI satellite in prison.  His leadership at The Advanced Studies Institute of the Inner Freedom Initiative of Prison Fellowship (in Ellsworth) served as the impetus for Prison Fellowship to begin their partnership with World Impact, through TUMI, and convinced Warden Cline of the importance of the training.

After his release Sam served as a mentor at our TUMI National Hope School of Ministry, and eventually took all his experience back to his home in Jos, Nigeria where he will partner with churches there to supply affordable Christian leadership education.  Sam's faithful footprints are sinking deep and drawing others to the pursuit of Christ, but it all started in prison.

Now, as a result of the partnership with Prison Fellowship, 423 prisoners are being trained to be pastors and Christian leaders, with an exponential growth poised on the horizon.  And, because of Warden Cline's faithfulness, other prisons are looking to walk in step with a man who follows Jesus.

The potential in the prisons leaves me in awe every time I think about it.  Wouldn't it be just like our God if He used a bunch of felons as the birth place of a revival in our country?  Isn't it just like our God to take leaders from gangs and the drug trade out of the temptations of the city, use the secular government to feed and house them, and use the Body of Christ to train them to one day be released back into the communities they had a hand in damaging and transform them for Christ?  Quite a seminary our God has set up for these men and women.

It is completely within the grace of our God to use felons, truly the "least of these" in societies eyes, and two ordinary but faithful Sams to bring spiritual revival to our land.  Let us pray for that, and let us pray that God make us faithful in our own lives as we lead others to walk in step with our Savior. one faithful step at a time.

In the words of Mother Teresa, “We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.”  And that is all our Savior asks of us.