image courtesy of Killing Cockroaches by Tony Morgan

I have been battling ants in my house lately. It is kind of gross because they are getting into the dishwasher. So I have been getting in the habit of just crushing them whenever I see them. The other day I was outside and saw a spider. My instant thought was to squash it. I stopped and thought there was no need. As I walked on, I felt that I had done a good deed letting that spider live.

That's weird. It's just a spider. Immediately I was reminded of a friend of mine from high school, David. We were talking one day about why we decided to be Christians. He told a story of when he was elementary school age, he was outside and saw an anthill. He went over to it and slaughtered them. Just stomping them all. For those with boys, I'm sure you can see your son doing this. Anyways after the fury died done, David felt guilty that he killed them without reason. He felt so overcome that he confessed his sin and gave his life to Jesus.

I remember thinking as David shared his story that God is so amazing to use anything to bring people to salvation. I also remember thinking that God really did not care about the ants, but He just used it to lead David to Himself.

My incident with the spider has made me question those that last thought. God created these insects. He called them good. As part of His creation they carry with them a part of His good pleasure. Do we think God was in a bad mood when He created cockroaches? Because He created them, there must be something in them that He loves. I'm not saying I now love insects, nor am I saying they need to share my house. But there are things that we may not like that God loves.

My wife saw a woman in the YMCA the other day who was full-out liberal. I mean it was her identity. Anyway, she felt God whisper to her that He loved this aspect of the lady. Sure we believe that God loves her, but does He really love her being so passionate about being liberal? Why not? Can a Christian not be liberal? Are there no aspects of His character in what they are trying to accomplish? She may have been misguided in some ways, but who is perfect. God would rather us be hot or cold. It is the lukewarm He spits from His mouth (Revelation 3:16).

Jesus, help us to love and build bridges instead of killing others because we personally don't like what they do. Help us to prayer according to your desires for people and our world.

image courtesy of the The Call

This coming weekend thousands are joining in California's capitol to pray for our nation. For the last 10 years The Call has been gathering people to pray and fast for our nation. Go to their site at thecall.com and see how you can join with other in prayer. Below are two videos encouraging you to participate: one from the co-founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, Mrs. Vonette Bright; the other is the Call's promotional video. Whether you decide to join or not, please continue to pray for God's blessings on this nation.

image courtesy of Dosso Dossi

Many in the liturgical tradition are celebrating Saint Bartholomew today. This is one of the lesser known apostles as he doesn't have a speaking part in the Bible. Tradition of him is also limited although there is some indication that he went north into present day Turkey in the region of that was once part of Armenia. There is also some indication he took a copy of Matthew's gospel to India. What we do know is that he took to the message of Christ out from Jerusalem.

With that awareness the liturgical church takes inspiration from his example and prays for the same behaviors and attitudes in them. I think it is a beautiful aspect of the Christian life that many of us are not exposed to. Below is an except of the Book of Common Prayer for this day. May you find inspiration and help in your prayers through the history of the church that has gone before us.

The Collect.

O ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who didst give to thine Apostle Bartholomew grace truly to believe and to preach thy Word; Grant, we beseech thee, unto thy Church, to love that Word which he believed, and both to preach and receive the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

For the Epistle. Acts v. 12.

BY the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people; (and they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch. And of the rest durst no man join himself to them: but the people magnified them. And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women.) Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them. There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one.

image courtesy of Campus Crusade for Christ

The last blog post on Royalty has had me thinking about my time with Campus Crusade. As you have been following this blog, you will know that I love Dr. Bright and Crusade. Both have had a significant impact on who I am and my outlook on life. As you learn the history of the organization and the early years, Crusade was going after the influential. When it first started, Dr. Bright was interacting with the athletes and campus leaders. Still in the early years, Crusade brought all their staff to California for the Berkeley Blitz to take Christ to the future leaders.

One of the things we were taught on staff was the principle of the powerful 1%. This taught that 1% of the population went to college and that these would be the future leaders of the world. If we could reach the college students today, we would in effect change the world.

I have been thinking about this because on staff many had a problem with going after leaders. "Jesus did not go to the leaders" was the common response. We needed to go to the poor and needy. Without going into the reasons why these are not true, I believe the reason so many have a hard time focusing on leaders is because of the concept of the pauper mentality.

Many Christians are living their lives with the belief that they have nothing to offer the leaders besides saving faith. When it comes to the real problems leaders face, we believe we have no resources to draw from. It is why we change Jesus command from making disciples of all nations to making disciples in all nations. Jesus came to create a revolution and transform society. We are looking to survive.

This affects our prayers. We have a small expectation on what is expected of us so we don't partner with God on the things He is wanting to do. Too many people are praying for the President to become a Christian instead of praying for the universal Church to step it up and disciple him on the way he is to lead. I'm not saying he is not a Christian, but many believe that if he just makes that prayer he will automatically know the right things to do.

What are you praying for? What is motivating you each day? Don't get me wrong; praying for a loved one to come to Christ is extremely important. But how many are engaging God to change the media and how it describes Christians principles of abstinence and pro-life?

Ask Jesus what He wants you to be praying for.

I recently read The Supernatural Ways of Royalty by Kris Vallotton, a senior pastor at Bethel Church in Redding, CA. The book is primarily about how many of us don't view ourselves the way that God does. But, that would be a simplistic assessment of the book. Vallotton shares his personal journey out of what he calls a pauper mentality and translates it effectively for us.

In his words, "a pauper is born into insignificance. As he grows up he learns through life that he has no value and his opinions don't really matter. Therefore, when he becomes a king, he is important to the world around him but he still feels insignificant in the kingdom that lies within him. Subsequently, he doesn't watch his words or the way he carries himself. He ultimately destroys the very people he is called to lead."

We live out of how we view ourselves. We can't help others feel valued if we don't feel values. To steal from Henri Nouwen, wounded people wound others. Kris encourages us to love and see ourselves the way Jesus loves and sees us, then we will expect other people to value you and trust your words the more they get to know you. Therefore, we will act accordingly.

We did not create ourselves; God created us. We are the work of His hands. When we tear ourselves down or make self-degrading jokes we are not being humble. You are not just a worm worthy of nothing more than rolling in the dirt. We are no longer sinners. We are saints. We are joint-heirs with Christ. We are a royal priesthood.

This book attacks our view of self with enough force to change our behaviors. Vallotton states, "so much of the way we read and interpret the Bible has been affected by pauper mentality. When we feel small and powerless, we tend to dilute the word of God down to something we can accomplish in our weak state so we don't feel convicted for not doing what's required of us." Paupers are afraid of failure because they view their identity by what they do. If they fail, then they are a failure. Pauper's reason: God's word says I am an overcomer, so I better not do something that makes me feel like a failure.

This is why so many Christians still struggle with saying they are not a sinner. They know they sin. But if you view yourself as a sinner, you cannot help but sin because sinners sin. But, just because you sin, it does not make you are sinner. God wants to re-wire our thinking.

I would highly encourage this book. It will challenge your thinking, hit you with surprising truths, and take you into a greater love our Heavenly Father.

Some days you wake just wanting to spend time with God. For me, that was today. I awoke with things I wanted to pray about and some questions to bring to Him. But, before I could even sit down to pray, I felt God was moving me in a different direction. I felt He wanted me to ask Him how He was doing today.

This led me into an entertaining and enjoyable time with God. I never ended up getting to the things I wanted to ask Him, but I never felt the desire to change the topic to my list of items. Many of us have heard and taught that prayer is a two-way conversation and sometimes we need to just be silent and listen. Today was different for me. I usually think that my listening is just waiting for Him to answer my questions or for Him to give me some insight that would be beneficial to me. Today it really did not have anything to do with me. He just wanted me to pursue Him differently... not as selfishly.

Today provided me with a new mindset on prayer. When I fly through the ACTs or skip them all together just to get to the supplications, I am communicating to God that I am only interested in Him in as much as He can help me. I hope today's nudge from God changes the way I approach my prayers.

image courtesy of IwoJima.com

Lately I have been spending time at work helping train others. Some of the things I need to train them on are things that I had to learn for myself. I was dwelling on this today and realized this is the life we are supposed to live. We are called into a lifestyle of taking new ground so that others may come up behind and carry the baton even further.

We all have those who have gone before us that have helped paved the way for us to be who we are and where we are today. Our country exists because of those who have laid the sacrifice before us. In the picture above, only two of the five lived a week after it was taken. They claimed new ground that others may exceed where they had been.

Growing up my older brother also did this for me in a way. I would see the things he was able to do and came to the conclusion I also would be able to do it. If he hit home runs, then I would be able to hit home runs. If he did well in school, then I could do well in school. That is what an older brother is for. He shows you what can be done and you go exceed it.

Our goal in walking with Jesus is not to make spiritual superheros, but find those who have exceeded in taking new ground then follow their example to take it to new heights. George Müller was known for being a man who God answered his prayers. Therefore let's find out what he did and apply it. The Moravians set up 24/7 prayer virgils that ran for 100 years and spawned hundreds of missionaries around the globe - the first large scale Protestant missionary movement. Let's look to them to see how to recreate that type of spiritual movement.

Personally, I am very thankful for Dr. Bill Bright for his life and message. He carried the baton forward on Transferable Concepts, Fasting and Prayer, and First Love. Each of these has been sturdy footholds in my climb up the mountain of God. A.W. Tozer is another man that has helped me advance further up especially his Pursuit of God book.

Let us also remember that Jesus is our older brother. "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father" (John 14:12). We are to worship Him, but we are not to set His life on earth as unattainable for His followers today. He has called us to greater things than we can even ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20). Do you feel like you have attained all that Jesus died for you to receive? If not, look to those who have attained more and learn from them and see what they did as camps to be reached and then moved out from.

Who is your model that encourages you to more of Christ?

image courtesy of Jason Upton's website

I recently heard Jason Upton's adoption story repeated and loved how God strung together different events to show His love. Jason Upton is a worship leader often compared to Keith Green - whose passion for the Lord comes clearly through his music. His story is that he is adopted, and recently as he had gotten older decided the need to pursue finding his birth parents. What he found out was the amazing hand of God fulfilling his destiny.

Jason's mom became a Christian in the late 60's early 70's in the Jesus movement. She loved Jesus then fell for this man who was "not yet" a believer. In Jason's words he was the fruit of evangelism gone bad. A few months into the pregnancy his mom decided she wanted to get an abortion. Jason's dad talked her out of it.

Three months after Jason was born, Jason was placed in the home of his adoptive parents. During this time his mom put together a box of memories for Jason. She included pictures of him, the house, and his parents. She also included his story and a prayer she had written out.

This adoption was considered a closed adoption. This is where the only way for Jason or the parents to find out who the other was is through mutual consent. So some time after Jason contacted the adoption agency with his request, he received this box. He opened the box, looked through the pictures, and read the prayer. His mom had prayed that Jason would one day become a worshipper and lead others into worship. God had answered her prayer without Jason knowing it was prayed for him and without his mom knowing it was fulfilled.

After getting the box, Jason called his mother. All the adoption agency had told her was that her son was looking for her and may call. So when the call came through Jason said, "My name is Jason Upton, and I believe I'm your son." Her husband then came on the line, said she could not talk now, and hung up.

What had happened after putting Jason up for adoption was his mom went through some tough emotional pain during which she abandoned the Lord that took many years to come out from under. When she finally started to come back, she had a lot of unresolved issues for the Lord to heal. She had noticed that there was one musician that her church had played that really spoke the words on her heart. She asked around to find out who it was and bought that CD. She did not know at that time was the music she had bought was from the son she had given to adoption.

I am sure there is more to this story I missed in the retelling. But what I did gain was how the hand of God was at work in a situation that at points had been very traumatic for Jason's mom. God is powerful enough to turn all of our darkest moments into signs of His wonderful goodness. No situation is too bad that can't be redeemed. Jason is who he is because his mom allowed him to be adopted by his parents. It has affected his life and affected his ministry. And through it all, God's hand was at work redeeming and blessing. God works through all things for good.

Additional resource:

• A Treasury of Adoption Miracles by Karen Kingsbury

Don't miss any article to praytel's prayer blog. Subscribe through email or RSS reader.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything,
by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding,
will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7

How many times have you heard a friend say the reason they were not going to do something was that they did not have a peace about it? How many times have you used it yourself? I know I heard this a lot when I worked with college students, and often it was used to not do something that it was clear they should be doing. Why did they not have peace?

Often God will call us to do things that are beyond ourselves. Doing something that we are not used to or not familiar with will often caused discomfort and lack of peace. Offering forgiveness to someone how has hurt you badly often does not cause peace in the process. So can peace really be an effective guide?

Something I am just coming to realize is that the peace we should be looking for is not the peace that comes from no troubles, but it is a peace that comes from the Lord. "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid" (John 14:27).

Therefore peace should still be our guide, but we need to make sure that the peace we are following comes from the Lord.

I (Kevin) watched the movie Bella last night and was reminded of an important and neglected truth in most churches today. The world is hurting and needs hope. And, they will have no place for the hope we offer if it is only for the life to come.

Bella is a movie about two people dealing with past experiences that threaten to keep them from living life now. The cinematography was great which made the movie quite enjoyable. I liked the movie, but you can like the movie or not. The point I wanted to bring out is that the experiences of the main characters are not far from the experiences of the world we are trying to reach. Bad things happen. The innocent are hurt or even killed. Walls are erected for protection.

What are we going to offer these people to transform their lives? Too many followers of Jesus are content with having their sins forgiven and have laid their own pain and questions to rest deep in hidden areas of their hearts. Sure there are sins that need forgiven and there are people living under the weight of guilt. But, if we cannot answer these questions, what are we offering the world besides medication before death takes us home. Whether they admit it or not, many people (Christians included) are angry with God. It is hard to love and follow God if you are angry with Him.

I believe this is one of the reasons for the success of the book, The Shack. People feel the loss of innocence in their own lives and feel that maybe God cannot be trusted. He could have stopped my daughter from dying. He could have protected my brother from the drunk driver. He could have put me in a family that wasn't abusive. He could have made me less beautiful so I would not have been raped. He could have. We think He should have. But, He didn't.

What are we as the Church going to offer those people?

Here is some insight that I have noticed from people... when they ask you, "if God is so good, why is there evil in the world?", most of them are not asking for an intellectual answer. They want healing from the pain they are carrying around.

O Lord, help us to move away from the formulaic to trust in the Holy Spirit's guidance. We don't know why all of those things happened, but we know that You are good. You love us with never-ending love. And, we know you are a redeemer. The enemy may have meant it for evil, but somehow You, O Lord, can make all things beautiful. We do not have those kind of answers, but we can bring these broken people to You for you are mighty to save. And You want them to know that yes You are good and You have a good answer to their questions.