northpoint notes

I am intrigued when I see patterns or repetitions.

I began the new year with an emphasis on prayer and fasting – seeking a deeper walk with Christ and a greater harvest for the year – 40 days – 7 sermons related to prayer.

Last week I was in Austin, Texas (where it was 70 degrees and sunny – slightly different than the cold and snow we have in Indiana) with a group of prayer leaders from around the nation. We were sharing reports about our ministries and two of them share hi-lites of sermons they had preached on the Lord’s Prayer since the beginning of the year.

Later in the a prayer leader from Austin shared that a local radio station was calling the city of Austin to prayer and were praying the Lord’s prayer on air, at noon, each day and that a station in Cincinnati, Ohio had picked up on the idea and are doing the same thing there.

In doing some research on the Lord’s Prayer, I came across this video which is delightful. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR4PQ30VkBk

Last evening I was talking with my son who is teaching a discipleship course in New Zealand to college students. Almost as an aside to the conversation we were having about his sunburn (difficult to be too sympathetic), he expressed a desire to write a book on – you guessed it – the Lord’s Prayer. As he has been studying the life of Christ – and especially His prayer life – he began noticing patterns – noticing that Jesus practiced and prayed, throughout His lifetime, the very things He taught in the Lord’s Prayer.

Many churches pray it weekly. Others nearly ignore it. Could it be that God is awakening in some more than just an renewed interest but a deeper understanding of these special words of Jesus.

What might happen if we began to allow the Lord’s prayer to really teach us to pray?

30  26  13  6  3  1 -3  -6  -12  -18  -20  -18  -17

When I pulled out of my garage the morning, the temperature on my car thermometer read 30. It was down hill from there. Before I was out of the sub-division, the temperature had registered below zero and before I reached my destination (a 20-minute drive) the temperature had dipped to -20 and remained there.  It warmed to -17 during that first appointment this morning – hardly a heat-wave.

I found myself being thankful:

• For a heated home – though we keep the thermstat low, it is still heated.
• For a dependable – heated car
• For warm clothes
• That I don’t live where it is -40 or -60
• That it is supposed to be in the teens above zero tomorrow
• That spring is still promised
• That I don’t have sheep giving birth to baby lambs.

If we were doing one of those elementary school quizzes that asks which one in this list doesn’t belong, the answer would be the last one. Cold weather always reminds me of the days when our children were involved with 4-H and their lambs would decide to be born on the coldest night of the year.

We spent numerous late nights in the barn tending to new born lambs trying to give them the best care possible so they could survive the cold. Once in a while a lamb would get chilled and we would bring it into the house and put it near wood burning stove to warm it up and then return it to its mother. Those first few hours were critical.

I am reminded of those who are new to faith. Those first few hours are just as critical. A person puts their trust in Christ and a transformation – a new birth begins. It isn’t long before they are flooded with doubts about this new faith. It is critical they receive encouragement. They are filled with questions and need to begin a journey in the Word in order to grow. Those first few hours, days and weeks are critical to their growth and development.

Too often we have celebrated a person’s decision to trust Christ and then orphaned them to fend for themselves. Like new-born lambs, they need care.

I have been looking at the life of Jesus. There are several obvious things to observe:

• His prayer life – Jesus was frequently going away by himself to pray – early in the morning, late at night, all night – prayer was a significant part of His life. He demonstrated a longing to be with the Father and a dependence on the Father.
• He didn’t seem to be in a hurry. He was busy – always in demand – but not in a hurry.
• He didn’t seem to be too concerned about the expectations of others. In Mark, Simon went looking for Him (found Him praying) because there was a crowd looking for Him and Jesus said, “Let us go somewhere else.” Doesn’t sound like a great ministry strategy.
• He was on a mission – and in John 17, He prays to the Father and says, I have finished the work you gave me to to. He had prepared a team of people who would proclaim His story to the ends of the earth and make disciples in all nations.

When I go to conferences, that is not how I hear ministry described. It is all about mission, vision and strategies (all important – I believe Jesus had them as well) but we focus less on prayer and on listening to the Holy Spirit.

We rush from meeting to meeting, appointment to appointment in order to run the machinery that is the church. It seems we spend more time being “leaders” and “CEO’s” than being disciple-makers. Churches, which are now corporations require time, energy and resources just to keep them going.

We grow these organizations and I wonder if we are really making disciples. I don’t want to be too critical because I know that God is doing many good things in churches but I wonder if there isn’t more He would like to do.

When Jesus approached the end of His life, He was able to say, “I have finished the work you gave me to do.” I wonder if are statement will be different – will we try to tell Him about the size of our church (which He already knows); the boards we served or led or will we be able to say that we have completed the work He called us to do.

I’m off to another meeting.

My wife’s mother came from a family of 14 children which means that when they all married there were 28 aunts and uncles. I think each of these couples had four or five children (marrying into this clan has been interesting – trying to keep track of everyone). I’m certain there are at least 70 grandchildren – all of whom are now married.

To give a little perspective we had a reunion a little over 20 years ago and there were more than 180 present and the entire family wasn’t there. These are the immediate descendants of my wife’s grandparents. Several of the original 28 aunts and uncles have died. One aunt will be 90 this summer.

There were originally 10 girls and 4 boys in the family. There are still 6 of the sisters and two brothers living. They are a close family.

Today we attended the funeral of one of the uncles – the husband of one of the sisters. He was a godly man – loved by family and community. It was good to see each of the family that was able to attend.  There was a time when the family gathered frequently for reunions and we did a fairly good job of keeping up with weddings and births and job changes and re-locations.

Now most gatherings involve funerals. It is difficult to watch a generation pass – knowing that the next generation will lose the connections once thought so important.

I’m an in-law – have been in the family for nearly 40 years. There are still many of the family I do not know. But it has been a fun family to be a part of. When I was ordained as a minister I think most of the aunts and uncles made a trip to Louisville, Kentucky for the service. So I have been blessed.

Being the grandfather of two grandchildren (ages 10 and 5) I witnessed the total transformation of a room in less than the time it takes to write this sentence. They arrive with their “stuff” – clothes, toys, crafts, etc. – and in spite of our best efforts to direct it all to one room or two, they deposit that stuff in random locations through the house.

Then they unpack. My granddaughter loves to write notes and draw pictures.  Little notes and pictures add to the clutter. I normally like a relatively clutter free environment (although you could not tell it from looking at my desk and office). The dilemma is knowing what to do with all of those little pieces of art. As much as I would like to, I cannot possibly keep them all.

During the holidays I found a note that was addressed to me from my granddaughter. I remember that she had handed it to me but I confess I did not look at it carefully at first. As I picked it off the counter, I read it – addressed to me, it said, “I love you because you accept me the way I am.” This note was a keeper.

I was reminded of the fact that Jesus accepts us just as we are. He doesn’t ask us to change in order to be accepted but accepts us and invites us into a life-changing relationship.

I fear there are too many times when my acceptance of others is based on their performance – living up to my criteria. The note from my granddaughter means a lot. It serves as a reminder of how Jesus treats me and how I need to relate to those around me.

It’s amazing what you can learn from children.

A mother waits by the bed of her infant daughter who is fighting for her life from maladies no one seems to be able to explain.

A pastor sits with his adult son outside the ICU where a wife and mother is being treated after a severe head injury left her in a coma.

A young woman gives birth to a baby girl and a few hours later her husband is killed in a car accident.

There are no words of explanation that will ease the pain. In fact there are no words that make sense. We can sit with these friends, hold their hands, embrace them and assure them of our prayers but we cannot fix what is broken in their lives.

I cannot count the times I have prayed for people going through similar tragedies and have asked God for His presence to be with them – to comfort them.

As I prayed for these three today, I had to ask, “is that enough – is His presence enough. The loss is still there. The child is still sick. The wife is still in a coma. Is His presence enough?

I have experience some loss in the past. Both parents are gone as are both of my wife’s parents. I remember sensing the Lord’s presence – giving strength and grace.

Is it enough? On the one hand, no. His presence doesn’t reverse the death of a loved one. His presence doesn’t always restore health and vibrancy. Given the reality that loss happens, I’d rather experience loss with His presence than without it.

So I will continue to pray for His presence to be with these who have suffered loss or facing uncertainty and know that his presence makes those times bearable. They also provide opportunity for a more intimate knowledge of the One who made us.

It seems to nearly always happen. You set goals, make plans and begin to look forward to implementing the plans and then reality hits. Life doesn’t allow you to put all the effort into the plans you had envisioned.

I am working intentionally with several people to help them grow as disciples of Jesus. I am also working with others to help them do the same. All of this takes time and planning – planning around work schedules, school activities and family times.

This is one of those week that MY schedule is the difficult one. For the next two days I will be involved in meetings that have nothing to do with my personal efforts to multiply disciples. I may have opportunity for input into systems that may help in a regional way. Notice the word “may.” I am on the district leadership board of my particular tribe of churches.  While I appreciate the privilege, it feels like a distraction to my personal ministry.

I will leave those meetings early tomorrow for a local church meeting focused on our own outreach – then on to my small group. Tuesday it will be back to the district meeting followed by a meeting with a small group leader.

Wednesday a funeral in the family (which takes me from two other scheduled meetings).

Thursday is our leadership meeting and then Saturday, a meeting with those interested in disicpling others or being discipled.

Friday is the miracle day – no meetings.

When I look at all the meetings scheduled so far this year and all the ones I attended last year, I have to wonder how much was really accomplished. Do we (I) spend so much time in meetings that there isn’t time to really impact lives? Do the tasks associated with meetings keep us from the real ministry of connecting with people?

Right now I am seeing growth in several people. I don’t want to miss an opportunity to help them to the next step because I was in a meeting.

But I guess I will go look over the agenda for tomorrow’s meeting. Perhaps there will be some opportunity to make a difference.

I was out for my morning run earlier today and thinking about the men I want to invest in over the course of this next year. I have a small group of 10 that I meet with on Mondays – a group of men and women who are interested in growing deeper in Christ and at least a couple of people in the group are catching the idea of their responsibility to invest in others.

I meet with two young men each Friday. We are studying the disciple-making strategies of Jesus and each of them are beginning to invest in others.

I also meet with a relatively new believer. We are going through some basics of the faith. I will soon be challenging him to look for others to reach out to.

Several of our key leaders are beginning to build disciple-making relationships in the work place. These leaders are wanting to meet for some coaching/accountability and prayer as they touch lives in their world.

There are a few others who have said they want to become involved in discipling others and would like to meet for some basic understanding of what they should be doing in those disciple-making relationships.

I am looking at my calendar and asking, “how can I fit all of them into my schedule.” I thought about Jesus and it appears that His disciples found ways of following Him. Perhaps that is one of the reasons the movement could spread so rapidly in that culture.

In our culture we have to work around jobs, careers, school activities, and family demands. Some cultures (and I think this was true of Jesus’ day) people worked to live. In our culture, it seems that we live to work. Jobs and careers, retirements and health benefits all seem to demand an enormous amount of time and energy.

Making disciples gets shifted to “left-over time.” Those who would disciple others have to find ways of working around work schedules.

I am excited that there are at least 15 people who want to be involved in disciple-making but I am also a little weary just looking at the calendar and wondering “how.”

In time, several of these will become leading disciple-makers. It is that prospect that energizes me. The greatest ministry fulfillment I have is watching these men and women take the next steps. I think it will be a good year.

I best go look at my calendar again.

The beginning of a new year is usually a time of reflection – looking back over the last year – dreaming, planning, setting goals for the new year. For many it is a day of football and food.

• I began the day praying, thinking, reading. I’m not great at resolutions – they create a lot of pressure and then guilt when I don’t follow the resolve. So I pray about things I believe need to happen and share the responsibility with God. Most of what I’d like to see happen in 2009 can’t happen without Him anyway.
• Then I went for a 5-mile run which was a continuation of the praying, dreaming and thinking about the new year. This was the longest run since surgery and I was reminded how fortunate I am to be able to run.
• I spent time reading  on Caringbridge.com about Lia, the three week-old daughter of friends in Idaho, who is battling for her life. I grieve with them because there seem to be no answers for the health issues she has.
• I’ll spend part of the day making ginger bread men with my grandchildren. It has become a tradition. This is probably the 7th year.
• I hope to watch a little football – perhaps take a nap (they seem to go together).
• Tomorrow I am meeting with two men. We are trying to study the life of Christ together to learn more of His discipleship strategy. Both of these young men are serious about their faith – so I will spend some time today praying about how best to challenge them and continue to help them grow.
• There will be a leadership meeting next week. I will spend some time today preparing for it – looking for ways to challenge them to each have prayer partners and to think about their individual ministries as discipling opportunities – asking them to find someone to really invest in this next year.
• A part of my praying this morning and my reflecting as I ran was about how to really create a disciple-making movement. I believe the stage is set. I don’t want to miss the opportunities.

New Year’s day is an odd day. It marks the change of a calendar. It comes as often as not in the middle of the week – sort of an interruption to the flow of normal life. It isn’t like Christmas which is a holy day and it seems one should keep it a bit more sacred. Today is simply one of those secular holidays (oxymoron). It does provide a break – a time to catch up on unfinished stuff and perhaps gain perspective as we look to the new year. It is also an excuse to be with family.

So it is a good day. It started well and I assume it will finish the same. The challenge will be not to finish the day well but to finish the year well. I’m thankful for a good start.