Paying a High Cost

An old friend stopped returning my phone calls.

My intuition, which is accurate 3/4 of the time, tells me that my clumsy attempts to represent Christ to my old friend finally put him off.

Perhaps had I been more straight-forward -- a known quantity, things would be different.

Perhaps had I been more sensitive -- not forcing the conversation, we'd still be talking.

I don't know.

What I do know is that being rejected -- in this case with no explanation -- is tough to swallow. And the other thing I know is that if you and I choose to represent Christ with our lives (imperfectly, to be sure) we will, at times, pay a steep price.

Tongue Unleashed

My life-long friends Kathe and Dave led me in a very specific prayer recently as we cruised in my 2004 Ford Explorer along a country road:

Lord, use us.

Yes, I'm an evangelist/apologist. I'm trained, skilled, etc. YET, it's shocking to me how often my fragile ego puts a gag order on my tongue, insisting that Now's not the time to share Christ. You'll come off as pushy. You'll turn people off. Take more time to love before blurting out something ill-timed and stupid.

Lord, use us.

That day I talked with five people about faith in five separate conversations. Tongue loosed.

Yesterday on the 11th tee box it happened again. My buddy was joking about heaven and hell so I took a chance: But how're you going to GET to heaven, Joe?

He said something about treating people well, and I gave him my most skeptical look. Then we were off to the races, gospel-speaking.

It's a simple prayer: Lord, use me. Use us.

Will you pray that prayer with Kathe, Dave and me this week?

Coming and Going

An impressionable college student from the Midwest attended the 1979 Urbana Mission Convention, and that student was me.

I was fortunate to have a talk at the convention with the Rev. Billy Graham in which he looked directly at me and uttered these words, and I paraphrase:  The scriptural pattern for God's servants has two directions--coming and going. First we come to God in prayer and worship, and then we go out from God in witness to a fallen world. . .

 Nailing the point into my conscience from that evening forward, Mr. Graham made a welcoming gesture with his hands, beckoning me to "Come to God." Then his hawk-like features intensified as he gathered himself and shot his arms abruptly outward, commanding me to "Go forth in Jesus' name."

"Come. Go. Come! GO!! COME!!! GOOOOH," he thundered.

Sure, maybe the other 16,624 delegates in the auditorium overheard our conversation, which I admit was rather one-sided, Mr. Graham being at the podium and I in row 103. No matter. I say he was talking to me.

Friends, will you join me in this pattern of "coming and going," this week? Will you make time for prayer and worship, and then will you share the message of God's love with at least one other person?

I welcome your comments.

Psalm 130 to the Rescue

As mentioned last week, I've been setting the stopwatch on my cell phone most mornings for thirty minutes of worship and intercession. I wish I could say this comes easily for me, being in the ministry and all, but I can't.

Jim Sire has helped me. With instruction from his fine book, Learning to Pray through the Psalms, I've committed Psalm 130 to memory and often employ its incisive words to guide my prayers:

     Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD;
     O Lord, hear my voice.

        Let your ears be attentive
        to my cry for mercy

The "depths" to which the Psalmist refers are probably his own encompassing sin.

Geesh, I can relate.

Folks, we can "pray" this Psalm along with the ancient poet of 3000 years ago, submitting our faults to the Lord, pleading for his mercy. Will you join me in this prayer?

30 Holy Minutes

One of my friends spends 30 minutes/day in intercessory prayer. Through his example I've been challenged to do the same.

That was two months ago.

How's it going so far? I'm inconsistent, and when I do sit down before the Lord my mind easily wanders. Yet, I'm beginning to WANT to be there...

Would you care to join me on this adventure?

Others are way ahead of me as intercessors; I'm totally a novice. Still, if I may offer these suggestions:

1. Start small, maybe with 10-15 minutes/day. Then gradually build up to longer periods.
2. I always set my stopwatch for the time I've committed. Otherwise, I don't have the discipline to follow through. It sounds unspiritual, I know. 
3. Use a Bible. How? I'll talk about this next week.

Your comments are welcome as always. Perhaps you'd share some of your own struggles/ideas/breakthroughs on the topic of intercession, as an encouragement to our readers.