words from wick

About a year or so ago, our church seemed to desire a re-emphasis on prayer. We watched some dvd’s from Brooklyn Tabernacle. We were encouraged to read books on prayer. Times of prayer were scheduled, etc. It was talked about that we needed to be a “praying church”, and that quite possibly through that path – something similar to what broke out at Brooklyn Tab could happen in our neck of the woods.

Over time, the excitement and zeal over this thing called “prayer” died down a bit. Sure, we’re still people who believe in prayer. Sure, we still pray. The expectation is that everyone is praying, and may even be praying more than before the re-emphasis. But we don’t do a whole lot of it together.

Why is that?

I can’t speak to the church as a whole. But I do know in youth ministry, the temptation is simple. I get paid to do ministry. I get paid to lead and talk and “minister”. When I come to a Sunday or Wednesday, the temptation is to “prove” somehow that I’m worth what I’m being paid. To show off what I’ve studied. To establish myself as someone who has book learnin’. To poke my head into the world of church elders and assert that I am so much more than a pizza party and flip flops.

I also approach prayer as routine. Why? Because it’s been a routine. Maybe I do it quietly in a closet where no one is near. Maybe I do it in a group, reciting familiar words and phrases. I do believe in prayer. I don’t understand it completely, but I believe God is up to something in and through and from it.

Earlier this year, my wife and I experienced something that I think renewed the desire to pray in both of us. We were led through several guided prayer exercises (experiments). The Free Methodist Church paid a lot of money for an incredible speaker to come and give us guided times of silence. He was well worth the money.

Ever since, I’ve begun experimenting in the realm of youth ministry. I think it has been working well. I believe whatever may be lacking between the praying church we are, and the praying church we could be….involves guided prayer experiences that remind us that prayer can be MORE than routine…can be EXPERIENCES once again. Containing life and transformation and hope and renewal and….God. 🙂

My advice? Even if you’re not in “youth ministry”. If you want to know more about experiments in experiencing guided prayer….check out “Downtime” and go where that points you. 🙂 Family devotions….Sunday School….personal time……etc. So many great opportunities for renewal….

So…the tracts appearing here are MILD compared to the one I found on our church resource table (Why the yellow race will not take over the world), placed by someone who hopefully meant well but perhaps didn’t read the tract they were leaving behind. But these types of beliefs are stewing behind the veil in many of our congregations. How to approach the topic in a loving way, to those who hold these beliefs as foundational to who they are, and who the bride of Christ is?

Read at your own risk, and know that these are NOT MY beliefs/views. There is a SMALL amount of Biblical Truth in each of these (kinda), but it is taken way out of context and used as a tool of fear. How would YOU respond?

Okay okay, don’t worry…I’m not losin’ any love for John Wesley. But it’s occurred to me lately a major difference between him and myself. Wesley traveled all over the place, preaching, teaching, admonishing, launching ministries, etc. To the point where he even authored many things while riding horseback between events in his life. It is a big difference:

I think the same could be said for *gasp* Jesus also. While there is an incredible amount to gain by paying attention to the life and ministry of both of these men (one more than the other, for obvious reasons), I think we generally overlook the lacking element of being a husband (a decent one, at least, in Wesley’s case) and a father.

Thankfully, I have had some pretty good men in my life. Men who have lived out what it meant to be a good husband and father. Yet still, in Christianity we see Pastors and lay people alike, seeking to reflect the ministry of men like these, as opposed to the heart and Spirit. Plates are full, and we run around trying to make sure every plate continues to spin without crashing; all the while adding a few more here and there.

Would it be more productive to not get married and/or have kids, and be able to devote more of my time and energy to the work of the Church? Yup. For the past 3 years, and the rest of my life, the church I minister among will be forced to recognize I’m a father and a husband. My church does a great job of embracing that role in me, and giving me freedoms to do it well, even if I don’t always seem to.

As Christians, and especially as those in ministry (I know our jobs are extremely taxing sometimes, but I also know we have certain freedoms that assist us in achieving “balance” that some secular employees seriously envy.) we need to be husbands and fathers who practice an example of Kingdom work through being spouses and parents. Not by discovering a united “manhood” with other men, and adding another plate called “manliness:discovering and being”. But by letting a few of the plates crash, or be spun by others, so that we can spend time and resources on our families and marriages.

We’ve been trained that the work of the Kingdom is “saving souls”. When we reduce the ministry to that, then yes….it becomes easy to sacrifice family time for trying to convince one more sinner to repent. But when I view my family and my marriage as a crucial part of my ministry…as one who says with Christ, “follow me”…then I must set marital and familial health as high goals.

I don’t say all of this as someone who has figured it out, by any means. I’m simply giving myself a lecture prior to a busy October, and allowing others to hear it; in hopes that maybe someone else needed to hear these words also. 🙂