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Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
By Mark D. Roberts | Thursday, July 16, 2009
I went to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince today with my family. As most of you know, this is the sixth of the Harry Potter films. And as you might have heard, it is surely one of the better movies in the series.
I thought I’d share a few comments with you. I’ll be sufficiently vague so as to avoid serious spoilers.
Comment #1 – As always with the Harry Potter movies, The Half-Blood Prince is about one-fifth as entertaining, thought-provoking, clever, and moving as the book. I always find this a bit disappointing when I see a Harry Potter film, though I’m not faulting the screenwriters or the filmmakers. It’s simply impossible to capture the richness of J.K. Rowling’s writing in a movie with a realistic length. (This one is just longer than two and a half hours, as is.)
Comment #2 – The characterizations of and relationships among the three main figures (Harry, Ron, and Hermione) are outstanding. The parts are well-written, well-directed, and well-acted.
Comment #3 – Some guy named Mark Roberts was part of the Visual Effects and Animation crew for the movie. I was excited to see my name in the credits.
Comment #4 – The depiction of teen romance was over-the-top, but delightful and often hilarious. I laughed more in this Harry Potter film than in any of the others, I think.
Comment #5 – As you would expect, there are some fantastic special effects in this movie (thank, in part, to that Mark Roberts guy). But the effects did not overpower the movie.
Comment #6 – I sometimes wonder how anyone can follow a Harry Potter filme without having read the associated book first. I highly recommend that you don’t see this film until you have read the book.
Comment #7 – My biggest gripe, by far, with the Harry Potter movies is the depiction of Albus Dumbledore, especially the characterization of Dumbledore by Michael Gambon. I wish I could say that The Half-Blood Prince is different, but I can’t. Albus Dumbledore is one of the most delightful, fascinating, mysterious, funny, and loving of literary characters. But in the Potter movies, he comes across as relatively flat. This is too bad, especially given Dumbledore’s crucial role in The Half-Blood Prince. It’s too bad that we rarely taste Dumbledore’s sparkling wit or his deep, fatherly love for Harry. Rats!
Comment #8 – The Half-Blood Prince is a great set-up for the final Harry Potter movies. As you may know, the seventh book will be portrayed in two, count ‘em, two full-length films. The Half-Blood Prince wonderfully whets one’s appetite for what is still to come.
Comment #9 – I’d give The Half-Blood Prince four out of five stars. There are some great scenes in this movie, which is generally well-acted and well-filmed.
Topics: Movies | 20 Comments »
The Life Has Been Revealed
By Mark D. Roberts | Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Part 3 of series: What is the Christian Life?
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In my last post I introduced the New Testament letter we know as 1 John. Written by a pastor for his hurting flock, John begins his letter by talking about the life we have in Christ. Here, once again, are these opening verses:
The one who existed from the beginning is the one we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is Jesus Christ, the Word of life. This one who is life from God was shown to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and announce to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was shown to us. We are telling you about what we ourselves have actually seen and heard, so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. (1 John 1:1-4)
Let’s pay close attention to the life of which John writes.
The life John “declares” to his spiritual children is not something he has contrived in his imagination. It comes neither from cultural convention nor from philosophical speculation. Rather, “The one who is life from God was shown to us,” John writes. So we don’t miss the point, he repeats, “He was with the Father, and then he was shown to us” (1:2). This revelation occurred, not in some private, mystical experience, but in something tangible, something that was heard, seen, and touched (1:1). God acted observably and spoke intelligibly, with John as one of the witnesses. As a caring pastor, he wants his flock to know about and to experience the revealed life of God.
Christianity is based upon God’s revelation in history. Though God often whispers in our hearts when we are quiet enough to listen or moves our hearts when we make them available to him, our faith does not rest upon our subjective perceptions. It stands upon the rock of God’s self-revelation throughout the ages, a revelation that is recorded in Scripture.
We see God making himself known in every part of the Bible. In the Old Testament, for example, Abraham and Sarah didn’t conjure up a god to meet their needs; their culture supplied plenty of household gods already. Rather, the sovereign Lord freely disclosed himself to them, changing their lives forever in the process (Gen 12-25). The same was true for Moses. While he was out in the wilderness minding his own business (well, actually, minding his father-in-law’s sheep business), God appeared to him, divulging his essential nature and calling Moses to into his service. Through the Law and the prophets, through exceptional miracles and daily blessings, God revealed himself to his people. The New Testament continues the story of God’s self-revelation with a dramatic new development of the plot, as we’ll see just below. (Photo: Charleton Heston as Moses)
Divine revelation lags in popularity these days. In our postmodern world, we are encouraged to invent our own gods, not to be told by anyone else – God included – what God is like. We claim the right to fabricate a religion that meets our needs and conforms to our values. Take a little of Christian grace, a bit of Eastern meditation, a bunch of generic love, and – voilà! – you have your own personalized religion. The whole idea of revelation seems foreign, even offensive. I can’t tell you how many times, when talking with folks about some difficult aspect of God’s revealed character, I have heard them say, “Well, I’m just not comfortable with a God like that. My God isn’t that way.” They simply assume the right and the ability to determine what God is and isn’t like. If there really is a God who lives outside of our imaginations, that’s rather audacious, don’t you think?
Furthermore, if God has actually bothered to reveal himself through something other than our personal inclinations, it would be rather foolish to try to invent God. Don’t you think it would be better to pay attention to what God has revealed about himself, even if certain aspects of God’s nature make us uncomfortable? There are many things about the God of the Bible I don’t especially like, I must confess. For example, I am often perplexed by God’s willingness to use violence and suffering in the unfolding of his plans for redeeming the world. More personally, sometimes I would like God to be much more compliant to my will and less committed to his own sovereignty. (I know this sounds silly when written down, but it is how I feel at times.) But, when the cobwebs are swept away from my mind, I really do want to know God as he is, as has shown himself to be, and not to chop him down to level of my conceptualization and comfort. In the final analysis, I wouldn’t want to trust my life to the pint-sized God of my own creation. Though the idea of revelation insults my postmodern pride, it actually relieves me of an impossibly heavy burden – the need to invent God and get it right.
Returning to John’s letter, he states that God has revealed, not only his nature, but also “life” or “eternal life.” This is great news. God has shown us how to live in his way, how to experience his quality of life. If this is true, then our next question is obvious: What is this life? To this question I’ll turn in the next post in this series.
Topics: Christian Life | 8 Comments »
Life for a Divided Community
By Mark D. Roberts | Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Part 2 of series: What is the Christian Life?
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Yesterday I began a new blog series I’m calling What is the Christian Life? If you missed yesterday’s post, you might check it out to see where I’m headed in this series. Or, you can read on, and be surprised.
I’ll never forget a conversation I had years ago with a friend I’ll call Doug. Doug was the pastor of a growing church not far from where I lived. That day his face told a sad story. As we sat across the coffee shop table from each other, I could read his grief in taut lines that etched his usually cheerful face. My friend was in obvious distress.
“Our church is splitting,” he admitted. “I can’t do anything more to keep it together. It feels like my heart is being torn up, my family. I can’t believe this is happening.”
Neither could I. Everything had seemed to be going so well for Doug and his congregation. Begun as a home Bible study, under Doug’s leadership the church had grown swiftly in size. Many of those added to the membership had become Christians as a result of his ministry. Soon the expanding fellowship added new staff, including a talented, young assistant pastor.
But disaffections with Doug’s ministry began brewing. The assistant pastor all too willingly stirred the pot. Before long, a sizable faction of the church planned to break away to start their own fellowship. Their gripes weren’t substantial, matters of theology or morals. They had more to do with ministry style and strategy. Mostly, they reflected spiritual immaturity among believers who saw the church as place to meet their needs rather than a place to serve the living God.
The intervention of denominational officials shone a ray of hope into the dark situation, but only for a brief moment. It was too little, too late. The church was dividing. As his beloved congregation broke apart, so did Doug’s heart. He winced as former friends now averted their eyes when they saw him in town. He yearned for reconciliation and ached because it seemed so unlikely.
Doug’s situation is as old as Christianity, I’m sorry to say. In the closing years of the first century A.D., a pastor known to us as John watched sadly as his church splintered before his eyes. The divisive issues were not trivial, as in the case of Doug’s church. They had to do with fundamental theology: the nature of Christ and the Christian life. Those who had departed from John’s church rejected the essential humanity of Christ, denied their own sinfulness, and failed to love their fellow church members. Unwilling to abandon their mistaken views and practices, they instead parted company with the church that had been their spiritual family. They also abandoned John, who was not only their pastor, but perhaps even one of the original disciples of Jesus. Many scholars believe that he was also the author of the Gospel of John (or at least that both “Johns” were leaders in the same church).
Though devastated by the split in his congregation, John turned his pastoral attention to his remaining flock. Fearing that others might leave the church, he wrote a short treatise to reaffirm the basic truths that the separatists had denied. He urged those he called his spiritual “children” to think rightly and to love energetically (1 John 3:18). This treatise is preserved for us as the first letter of John in the New Testament.
John does not merely refute the views of those who left his church. Rather, he strengthens his community by helping them to understand the Christian life. With greater regularity than any other biblical book, John uses the Greek word “life” (zoe, pronounced ZOE-ay), and explains what that life is all about. He does this with particular intensity in the opening verses of 1 John:
The one who existed from the beginning is the one we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is Jesus Christ, the Word of life. This one who is life from God was shown to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and announce to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was shown to us. We are telling you about what we ourselves have actually seen and heard, so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. (1 John 1:1-4, my translation, with italics added. I will generally use my own translations in this series, for the sake of accuracy and clarity.)
In my next post in this series I will examine in greater detail the life that has been revealed to us according to 1 John 1:1-4.
Topics: Christian Life | 1 Comment »
What is the Christian Life? An Introduction
By Mark D. Roberts | Monday, July 13, 2009
Part 1 of series: What is the Christian Life?
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Today I’m beginning a multi-part series on the Christian life. I want to try and answer a simple question:
What is the Christian life?
A similar question might be: How should a Christian live? Or perhaps one might ask: What are essential elements of a Christian lifestyle? Or maybe: What difference will it make in my life today if I am a follower of Jesus? There are many other possible forms of this question. The simplest one is: What is the Christian life?
This question is essential for those of us who are Christians, that is to say, for those of us who have put our faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Why? Because being a Christian is so much more than merely believing certain truths or getting a free ticket to heaven. Trusting Jesus is the first step in a whole new way of living. Eternal life, rightly understood, isn’t just something for which we must wait until we die. Rather, it begins in this life, though it won’t be fully experienced until the age to come.
Although I am writing this series primarily with Christians in mind, it might also be helpful for my readers who are not Christians. If you’re curious about what the Christian life should be, I hope to satisfy your curiosity. If you’re considering becoming a Christian, it would be good for you to know in advance what you may be getting yourself into.
I’m going to propose one basic answer to the question: What is the Christian life? This answer will be based solidly on Scripture. In fact, my answer will emerge from a close examination of the biblical text. But I am not suggesting that my answer to the Christian life question is the only answer, or even necessarily the best answer. I think it’s one true perspective on life in Christ, a perspective that is invaluable for all Christians and relevant to the opportunities and challenges of contemporary living. But I expect there are other perspectives that are also true, valuable, and relevant.
I am not implying, however, that the Christian life can be anything you want it to be. The way of living for a follower of Jesus emerges from our relationship with him, and this relationship rests on who Jesus is and what he has done. Thus, the Christian life is shaped by core theological truths. These truths are revealed to us in Scripture, which becomes a kind of roadmap to the Christian life. I realize that many people today claim the freedom to construct their religious life without basing it upon the Bible. This is true even for some followers of Jesus. But I am convinced that God has give us his written Word as a sure guide, not only for what to believe, but also for how to live. You don’t have to agree with my take on the Bible in order to profit from this series on the Christian life, however. But I do at least want to lay my cards on the table before I begin, so you know where “I’m coming from.” If you wish, you could call this series “One Biblical Perspective on the Christian Life.”
I’ve been thinking about what it means to live as a Christian for a long time. My serious reflections began when I was in college, seeking to be a faithful Christian in the multi-cultural and aggressively secular environment of Harvard University. During my years as an associate pastor at Hollywood Presbyterian Church, I was exposed to a wide variety of Christian lifestyles and living environments. Sometimes I worked with street people from inner city Hollywood; sometimes I worked with highly successful people from the media world known as Hollywood. My reflections on the Christian life continued and intensified during my sixteen-year tenure as Senior Pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church. Week after week, I sought to help the people of this fine church live out their Christian faith in their daily lives.
While I was serving in Irvine, the church gave me a three-month sabbatical. My major project during this period of time was to write a manuscript on the Christian life. I wrote it for the express purpose of helping new members of our church understand what it meant really to live as a Christian. I hoped that a publisher might pick up this manuscript, but official publication was secondary to my goal of providing a resource for people joining my church. As it turned out, Baker Books did publish my manuscript with the title: After “I Believe”: Experiencing Authentic Christian Living. This book is now out of print, though it can still be found every now and then on eBay or in used bookstores.
The series that follows is based on a chapter of After “I Believe.” I plan to rework, refine, and expand that chapter. Though my basic perspective on the Christian life hasn’t changed substantially in the last ten years, I have a few more things to say today, and I hope to be evening clearer in this series than I was in my book. If you read After “I Believe,” you may find some of what I say today vague familiar, but much will be new.
As always, I will be interested in your comments along the way. You can post them here for others to read, or email them to me if you wish to speak confidentially. So here’s a question for you: How do you envision the Christian life? If you had to summarize in 25 words or less what it means to live as a follower of Jesus, what would you say?
Topics: Christian Life | 6 Comments »
Sunday Inspiration from The High Calling
By Mark D. Roberts | Sunday, July 12, 2009
God’s Perspective on Human Goodness
God looks down from heaven
on the entire human race;
he looks to see if anyone is truly wise,
if anyone seeks God.
But no, all have turned away;
all have become corrupt.
No one does good,
not a single one!
If you have a sense of déjà vu when reading Psalm 53, it’s because this psalm is virtually identical to Psalm 14. Those who collected the psalms must have believed that the message contained in these ancient poems was so important that it was worth repeating, almost verbatim.
Psalm 53 begins by criticizing fools who deny God’s relevance to their lives, and therefore commit all measure of evil. From our perspective, it would be easy to begin to think of people who know who fit this mold, people other than ourselves, of course. But then we get to verses 2 and 3. Here, God looks down upon all people, and sees all of us to be lacking in goodness. The divine conclusion: “No one does good, not a single one” (53:3). With hyperbolic rhetoric and poetic intensity, the psalmist underscores the truth that all of us, to one extent or another, share in the folly of those who reject God and do what’s wrong. Thus we mustn’t let the fact that some “fools” are more foolish than we are become an excuse for us to ignore our own failure to live according to God’s wisdom.
In Romans 3, the Apostle Paul quotes this passage from Psalm 53 (or 14, see Rom 3:10-12). He concludes that all people have sinned and fall short of God’s glory (3:23). This bad news of human folly sets up the good news of the Gospel: “Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins” (3:24). Thus we must not boast of our right standing with God, since it’s nothing that we have earned. Rather, we humbly and gratefully receive God’s grace, and seek to share it with those who are still caught in their folly.
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: Do you ever look upon others in their folly as a way of building yourself up? How might Psalm 53 alter your perspective and practice?
PRAYER: O Lord, you know how easy it is for me to look upon the folly and evil of others in order to build myself up. I can think, “At least I’m better than them!” But this psalm reminds me of my own folly, even in thinking that somehow I am categorically better than others. Today I’m reminded of the fact that all have sinned, including me. Left to my own devices, there is no way I can cleanse myself of sin or be righteous in your sight.
Yet you have done what I cannot do. Through Christ, you have declared that I am righteous. You have drawn me into a right relationship with you, so that I might live in a new way, set free from folly. Help me, dear Lord, to live each day for you and by your power. Though I will continue to sin, may sin’s hold on my life diminish. May I flourish in goodness because of my relationship with you.
All praise be to you, gracious God, because, having seen the evil of humankind, you reach out in love to save us . . . including me! Amen.
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Would you like to receive a Daily Reflection like this one in your email inbox each morning?
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This devotional comes from The High Calling of Our Daily Work (www.thehighcalling.org), a wonderful website about work and God. You can read my Daily Reflections there, or sign up to have them sent to your email inbox each day. This website contains lots of encouragement for people who are trying to live out their faith in the workplace.
Topics: Sunday Inspiration | No Comments »
What Would You Expect from “The Worst BAR-B-Q in Texas”?
By Mark D. Roberts | Saturday, July 11, 2009
So if you go to a restaurant that prides itself as having “the worst BAR-B-Q in Texas,” you really shouldn’t be too surprised to see unusual signs in the eating area, like the one below. Hmmm. Gives you a lot of confidence in the food, doesn’t it?
Topics: Only in Texas | 1 Comment »
P.S. Isn’t This Missional and Formational Stuff Just a Bunch of Lingo?
By Mark D. Roberts | Friday, July 10, 2009
Part 12 of series: Missional and Formational?
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In this series on missional and formational I have been using some Christian lingo. It’s insider talk. If you went out “Jaywalking,” as Jay Leno used to do on the Tonight Show, and interviewed a thousand people on the street, asking, “What is missional? What is formational?” my guess is you might find one in a thousand that had any idea what you were talking about. So, yes, I’ve been using some fairly obscure Christianese in this series. I’ll admit it. But it’s helpful shorthand once you know what the words mean. (Photo: No, this didn’t actually happen on the Tonight Show.)
Yet I have been asked by people if the language of this series is “just lingo”? The sense of the question is: “Aren’t these words overused in some quarters? Aren’t they used in so many different ways as to become meaningless? Wouldn’t we be better off without the words “formational” and “missional”?”
In answer these questions, let me say at the outset that I’m not especially committed to the words “formational” and “missional.” If they pass away, I won’t be particularly sorry. But I don’t believe “formational” and “missional” are just lingo, if by this one means that the ideas they convey are just a passing fancy.
Formational has to do with individuals and communities being formed by the Spirit into the image of Christ. Formational is about not being conformed to this world, but being transformed by the renewing of our minds (Rom 12:1). Formational is about churches becoming fully functional as the body of Christ in their life together and in their life in the world. So, whether you use the word “formational” or not, the idea of “formational” is essential to the Christian life.
Ditto with “missional.” This word has to do with our being sent by Jesus to do his word in the world. All individual Christians and all Christian churches have a missional calling, a God-given missional identity. This means we need to see ourselves, wherever we are, as God’s agents, sent by him to extend his kingdom. All churches should be missional in the sense that all churches have been placed where they are by God for the sake of his kingdom work.
I don’t care if a church uses the word “missional.” I do care if a church sees itself as essentially called and formed for participation in the mission of Christ. That could be framed in different language. A church could be “other focused” or “outreach oriented” or something like this. But these phrases miss a crucial element that is implied in the word “missional.” It points, not only to the work to be done in the world, but implicitly to the one who sent us. “Missional” embodies the notion of God as the sender and ourselves and the sent people.
In my experience, the word “formational” isn’t terribly popular. Nor is it generally understood, even by experienced Christians. The word “missional” is also often misunderstood. But in some quarters this word is way too popular. That’s especially true in the Presbyterian circles in which I operate. “Missional” is the hot word, the “in” thing to be. Thus we have begun to call everything missional. This works rather nicely in churches that want to maintain their current identity as basically self-absorbed communities, but also want to be cutting edge. So they simply use the word “missional” to label everything they’re already doing.
The only way we’re really going to know what “missional” should mean is by a careful, exhaustive, and ongoing conversation about the mission of God as revealed in Scripture, and the mission of God’s people that emerges from this mission of God. Such a biblically-based conversation will show us what it means to be missional. It will also help us to see how some of the actions we currently label as “mission” are, in fact, inconsistent with or distractions from the fundamental mission of God.
I’ve added to this conversation in a blog series: The Mission of God and the Missional Church. But there is so much more that needs to be discovered and shared than what I have written. An there’s so much more to be experienced than anything I have known as a missionally-oriented Christian. If we took the missional label seriously, it would transform our individual lives and our churches in ways we can only begin to comprehend.
So, it may be that the word “missional” is getting worn out, flattened by overuse and imprecision. It remains to be seen whether the word will last. But the vision it is meant to convey will last and must last. In fact, no matter the language we use, I hope and pray that the vision of missional disciples and missional churches will grow in its impact.
Topics: Missional and Formational | 1 Comment »
Missional and Formational: Interim Summary
By Mark D. Roberts | Thursday, July 9, 2009
Part 11 of series: Missional and Formational?
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So far, I’ve looked at the biblical connections between the missional and formational dimensions of the Christian life. After some initial definitions, I’ve examined these connections in the Old Testament, the life of Jesus, and the ministry of Jesus. I had thought I might go on and look at several New Testament passages that show how missional and formational go together in early Christianity. But I think it’s time to end this series, at least for now. So I’ll move on to an interim summary. (If you’re curious about the some the New Testament passages I would have considered, you might want to study the following on your own: Acts 1:1-8; 4:23-31; 2 Corinthians 5:13-21; Philippians 3:7-16; Ephesians 6:10-20; 2 Timothy 1:6-7; Philippians 2:1-13; 1 Corinthians 15:9-10.)
The basic finding of this series has been the essential character and essential interconnectedness of the missional and formational dimensions of the Christian life.
Both missional and formational are essential dimensions of the Christian life. All Christians and all churches have a missional calling. We have been sent by Jesus into the world to continue his mission. All Christians and all churches have a formational calling. We are to be formed into Christlikeness both as individual believers and as churches. Neither missional nor formational are optional for Christians.
Missional and formational are essentially connected in the Christian life. You can’t have one without the other if your missional and formational realities are fully Christian. We will only be able to do the mission of Christ, individually and together, if we are formed in the image of Christ. Or, to use the language of Jesus, we will only bear much fruit if we abide in him. Moreover, if we abide in him, we will in fact bear much fruit. The more we become like Jesus and the more we are shaped by and filled with his Spirit, the more we will be invested in his mission. So missional and formational are like two links in a chain that must not be separated. They need each other.
Of course I am aware that many Christians and many churches major in being missional or formational, but not both. Some churches are big on outreach: evangelism, justice, caring for the poor, etc. Some churches are big on formation: prayer, worship, silent retreats, Bible studies, etc. But all churches, no matter their size, should be big on both. Missional without formational becomes programmatic, turning believers into cogs in a missional wheel rather than disciples who are living missionally in the world. Formational without missional turns people inward, making partial, self-absorbed disciples who don’t fulfill the basic calling of the disciple of Jesus: to make more disciples.
Scripture makes it clear that individual Christians are to be formed in the image of Christ so that we might engage in his mission. Scripture also makes it clear that in order to engage in his mission, we need to be formed in the image of Christ.
Central to both missional and formational are:
1. The Holy Spirit, who empowers us for mission, shapes us to be like Jesus, and binds us together as Christian community. Without the Spirit of god you won’t have mission or formation.
2. The Word of God in Scripture, which gives us our missional message and mandate, teaches us God’s truth, and forms our hearts to be like Jesus.
3. The community of disciples, who are necessary to our formation in Christ and to our engagement in his mission. We cannot be either fully missional or fully formational on our own.
4. Relationships with God and God’s people. Spiritual formation isn’t a process that happens to us so much as the result of a relationship with the triune God. Mission isn’t something we do to people so much as a relationship with them through which they encounter the living God.
This last point suggests are direction for my next blog series. I’m going to explore further the relational dimension of the Christian life. Stay tuned . . . .
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Missional and Formational in John 17 and 20
By Mark D. Roberts | Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Part 10 of series: Missional and Formational?
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In my last two posts, I showed how missional and formational aspects of discipleship are intertwined in John 15. When we remain in the vine, we bear fruit for the kingdom. The remaining-formational reality is inseparable from the fruitful-missional reality.
We see a similar pattern in two other chapters in the Gospel of John. In chapter 17, Jesus prays his so-called “High Priestly Prayer.” Here he speaks clearly of the missional calling of his followers: “As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world” (17:18). Given that the word “missional” means, at core, “having been sent,” there isn’t a more clearcut missional text in all of Scripture. Even Jesus was sent by the Father, so we have been sent by Jesus to continue his work, his mission.
Two verses later, Jesus prays concerning what we might call the formation of his followers:
“I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. (17:20-23)
Notice what’s involved in the formation that will enable us to fulfill the purpose of our sending. First, we need to be one. We need to be unified to an extraordinary extent: “completely one” even as Jesus is one with the Father. That’s some serious unity! Moreover, we will be able to engage in our mission when we are in the Father and the Son, and when we have their glory.
Here we see, once again, the inescapably relational dimension of our formation as disciples. We are not formed by God as a sculptor forms a statue. Rather, our formation is more like a fetus within a mother. Our formation is essentially relational. But, unlike a fetus, we never outgrow our need to be connected to God for our growth and strength.
It’s also important to point out that the formation envisioned in John 17 is not so much individual as corporate. We who are disciples of Jesus are formed together into a community of unity and witness. We fulfill our mission together. Usually, the language of formation relates to individual Christians and our growth in Christ. There’s nothing wrong with this idea or this way of speaking. But the formation that matters for mission isn’t just individual. It includes God’s people together.
This, it seems to me, is something we must take seriously in our effort to become missional Christians. Too often, we in church leadership have focused so much on the growth of individual Christians that we have neglected the growth of the church as the body of Christ. Both kinds of spiritual growth are essential if the church is to be the missional community God has designed it to be.
John 20 records some post-resurrection appearances of Jesus. In one of these accounts we read:
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. (John 20:21-22)
Here, once again, is the basic missional charge, the sending of the disciples by Jesus, the sent one. Yet notice that Jesus did not send his followers out unequipped for this mission. He breathed on them, giving the gift of the Holy Spirit. This is the Spirit who forms and shapes us as individuals and believers. The Spirit at work in us produces the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23). The Spirit at work through us produces the gifts of the Spirit (1 Cor 12-14). The Spirit alive in us forms us to be more like Christ in our personal lives and in our communities.
The closing chapters of John underscore the essential relationship between missional and formational. In particular, the sayings of Jesus found her remind us of the relational reality of formation: we are formed in relationship with God and in relationship with each other. As we are formed together into a unified community, empowered by the Holy Spirit, we are enabled to fulfill the mission into which Jesus has sent us, even as he was sent by his Father.
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Missional and Formational in John 15, Part 2
By Mark D. Roberts | Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Part 9 of series: Missional and Formational?
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Yesterday I began to offer some thoughts on the intersection of missional and formational in John 15. Here, Jesus says that he is the vine and we are the branches. We will bear much fruit (i.e. fulfill our mission) if we remain in him (i.e. be formed through relationship with him). In the process of remaining in Jesus as a branch, his Father, the Heavenly Gardener, prunes us so that we might bear more fruit. I mentioned yesterday that this pruning process, however necessary it might be, is not one of my favorites. It usually involves losing something that one values greatly, and this is never much fun.
Perhaps the most obvious example of recent pruning in my life came a couple of years ago, when God was pruning away my ministry at Irvine Presbyterian Church. Leaving this dear church was one of the most painful experiences I’ve had in ministry, though it was pain saturated by love. I felt strongly that God was calling me to Laity Lodge, even though I wasn’t quite sure all of what he would do with me in this new ministry.
One of my major concerns was that God was cutting off my preaching and teaching ministry with a congregation. Not only did I enjoy communicating God’s Word to people on a regular basis, but I also believed this was a responsible use of the gifts God had given me. At Laity Lodge I’d have some opportunity to teach and preach, but not like I had at Irvine Pres. It was hard for this part of my ministry to be pruned. (Photo below: The congregation at Irvine on my last Sunday as pastor. Yes, I did take this photo in the worship service. You can get away with things like this on your last day.)
Within a few months of my working at Laity Lodge, an unexpected opportunity opened up with one of our sister ministries, The High Calling of Our Daily Work (www.thehighcalling.org). This web-based ministry had been running a daily devotional, based on a series published by Eugene Peterson. Not only could people view the Daily Reflections on the website, but also they could have it sent to their email inbox each day. But the High Calling was getting to the end of Peterson’s material, having gone through the whole Bible in five years. In conversations with the producers of The High Calling, it seemed good for me to try my hand at the so-called Daily Reflections. Though I felt nervous following Eugene Peterson, I did my best. The response from readers was positive, so I took this on as an ongoing project. (I predict it will take me at least ten years to go through the whole Bible.)
Though writing the Daily Reflections isn’t exactly the same as preaching, it is fundamentally similar. In both media I take the Scripture, study a passage, interpret it for people, connect it to their lives, and, through prayer, help them to grow in their relationship with God. At Irvine Presbyterian Church I was able to do this for about 650 people, for twenty-five minutes once a week. Now, through The High Calling, I’m able to provide reflections for about 7,500 people every day. Ironically, if you add up the words in a weeks’ worth of Reflections, you come out with almost the same number of words as in an average sermon. And I spend about as much time each week on the Reflections as I did on sermon writing. (Photo: The location of my Daily Reflections on The High Calling website.)
Of course I do miss the personal dimension of preaching, being able to look into the eyes of my congregation as speak with them. But I get a steady flow of email notes from those who receive my Reflections. I am beginning to feel about my readers much as I felt about my congregation at Irvine. Plus, I’m getting to know many of my readers personally when they join retreats at Laity Lodge. Moreover, some of those who receive my Daily Reflections write to tell me that they pass them on to friends and relatives. I’ve heard from some pastors who circulate them to their church staff members. I share this with you not to brag, but to let you know how God is blessing this new opportunity to share his Word with people.
So, I am now able to impact many more people for the kingdom than I did while Senior Pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church. Numbers aren’t everything, of course. And there is nothing quite like being a pastor (though I don’t miss some parts of the job, let me tell you). But God has pruned me in the past two years so that I might bear more fruit for his kingdom.
Plus, it goes without saying that my effectiveness in writing the Daily Reflections is entirely related to how much I am abiding in Christ and letting his words abide in me. If I skip on the formational elements of this ministry, I will soon be writing empty Reflections that will not help people grow in Christ. Abiding in him means everything if I’m going to be an effective devotional writer, just as if I’m going to be an effective preacher.
What I’ve experienced in being pruned by God, and what I’m experiencing through studying, meditating upon, praying, and wrestling with his Word as I write the Daily Refletions, are parts of God’s forming me for his mission. I have been and am being formed so that I might be more fruitful for the sake of the kingdom. And I am more fruitful for the sake of the kingdom because I have submitted, however unhappily at times, to God’s pruning in my life.
In this example of pruning I have not talked about the extent to which my formation and my mission is not mine at all, but rather part of a corporate experience and ministry. I’ll share more thoughts about this in light of another passage in John’s Gospel. Stay tuned for the next post in this series.
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Missional and Formational in John 15, Part 1
By Mark D. Roberts | Monday, July 6, 2009
Part 8 of series: Missional and Formational?
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Today, I want to examine a text in the Gospel of John that is profoundly missional and formational. It shows that you can’t have one without the other. Moreover, this passage reveals crucial elements of what it means to be missional and formational disciples of Jesus.
Remaining in the Vine
Here is the first part of John 15, a discourse of Jesus with his disciples shortly before his Passion:
“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.
“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.” (John 15:1-8)
In this passage, Jesus speaks of the “formation” of the branches of the grapevine. He is this vine and we, his disciples, are the branches. The missional dimension of this text is developed through the metaphor of fruitfulness. Jesus’ Heavenly Father is the gardener who “cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit” (15:2). Implication: God wants us to be fruitful for his kingdom. In fact, we are supposed to “produce much fruit” (15:8). This is our missional calling, and the mark of true discipleship (15:8).
So how are we to bear fruit, even much fruit? Now we get to the formational dimension of discipleship. We do so by “remaining” in the vine, in Jesus. The verb translated as “remain” (meno in Greek) means “to remain, to abide, to make one’s home.” Thus, we will fulfill our mission to bear fruit for the kingdom only when we are attached to and remain connected to Jesus. Once again, we see that the formational aspect of the Christian life is essentially relational. We are formed for fruitfulness when we are connected to Jesus, drawing our nutrients from him.
In particular, we are nourished by Jesus’ teaching, by his words. He says, “But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!” (15:7). Our relationship with Jesus isn’t simply some subjective experience or even some objective spiritual connection. It is also a matter of receiving his teaching and letting it “remain” in us. We will be shaped for the mission of Jesus by his truth as it makes a home in us, change our vision and values. (Photo below: pruned grape vines . . . not very attractive)
The Christian life is simply one of abiding in Jesus, letting his words abide in us, and bearing much fruit. There is also the pruning part of this passage . . . not my favorite part, by the way. Jesus says that his Father is the gardener who not only cuts off unfruitful branches, but also “prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more” (15:2). When gardeners prune a plant, they are literally shaping that plant, deciding which branches to take away and which to leave. They are pruning with a vision for what the plant will become. They are forming the plant for maximum fruitfulness and/or beauty.
I’ve done a bit of gardening in my life, and I don’t like pruning, not one bit. Oh, it isn’t bad to cut off truly dead branches. But usually pruning involves cutting back live branches, taking away beautiful. Usually, the plant I begin to prune looks quite fine. When I’m finished, it is downright ugly. I often feel rather sad when I’m done with a pruning job, even though I know it’s necessary for the health and fruitfulness of many plants.
I like being pruned even less than I like pruning, however. In my experience, God’s pruning is rarely like a haircut, painless with immediately positive results. It’s more like what happens with plants. God takes away, often with some pain on my part, aspects of my life that have been fruitful. Sometimes I can’t see why God is doing this to me. Sometimes I feel angry with him. Sometimes I feel afraid or sad. But, in retrospect, I can see how God’s pruning helps me to be more fruitful for him.
I want to share an example of how God has been pruning me, but this post is going on a little long, so I’ll save it for tomorrow.
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Sunday Inspiration from The High Calling
By Mark D. Roberts | Sunday, July 5, 2009
The Sacrifice God Desires
You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one.
You do not want a burnt offering.
The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.
You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.
In yesterday’s reflection on Psalm 50, I noted that God, who set up the sacrificial system of the Old Testament, says he doesn’t need sacrifices. Rather, he desires worship and obedience. Psalm 51 offers even more insight into the sacrifice that God desires.
In Psalm 51, David confesses his sin without holding back. He implores the Lord to forgive him and create within him a clean heart. Then David adds that God does not “desire a sacrifice” or a “burnt offering.” Yet there is a sacrifice that is pleasing to the Lord. “The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God” (51:17).
When we sin, God is not impressed by the things we try to do to atone for ourselves (as if we could!). We cannot offer any goods or services to the Lord to motivate him to forgive us. After all, God can produce all the goods and services he needs. But we can offer that which we alone can give to the Lord: our open hearts, our sorrow over our sin, our fervent intention to repent. This is the “sacrifice” God desires from us.
How do we become broken over our sin? There is no simple answer. Sometimes we are shattered by the sorry results of sin. Sometimes we are so overwhelmed by the grace of God that we hate anything in us that dishonors him. But, in all times, genuine sorrow over sin comes as a result of the work of the Holy Spirit in us. Through the Spirit, God helps us to see our sin as it is and to yearn for cleansing and a new, holy life.
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: Have you ever offered to God the sacrifice of a broken spirit? When? What helps you to feel genuine sorrow over your sin? What helps you to turn from it?
PRAYER: Gracious, Holy God, I cannot offer you anything to make you forgive my sin. Your forgiveness comes as a free gift through Jesus Christ. For this I am eternally grateful.
But, when I sin, I can offer the sacrifice of a broken spirit and a repentant heart. I can offer my true sorrow over how I have wronged you. I can present my desire to turn from sin so that I might live my life for you.
Help me, dear Lord, to be able to offer the sacrifice that you desire. Keep me from tolerating my sin. Penetrate my defenses and rationalizations, so that I might see my sin as it is. By your Spirit, give me a passionate desire for you and your righteousness.
Indeed, create in me a clean heart, O Lord. Amen.
_________________________________________________
Would you like to receive a Daily Reflection like this one in your email inbox each morning?
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This devotional comes from The High Calling of Our Daily Work (www.thehighcalling.org), a wonderful website about work and God. You can read my Daily Reflections there, or sign up to have them sent to your email inbox each day. This website contains lots of encouragement for people who are trying to live out their faith in the workplace.
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The Brits Have Another Declaration of Independence!
By Mark D. Roberts | Saturday, July 4, 2009
A recent news story revealed a surprising discovery. The British have another original copy of the Declaration of Independence. This copy, one of only 200 that were initially printed, brings to 26 the number of copies in the world today.
It was found, sensibly enough, by an American doing research in the British National Archives in London. It had been hidden among correspondence of the colonists that had been captured by the British during the Revolutionary War.
It’s somehow fitting that this discovery was made shortly before the celebration of American Independence Day on July 4th. Now you might expect that the British aren’t very happy about our July 4th celebrations, and this may be true for some Brits. But a couple of years ago my wife and I found ourselves in London on July 4th, and we were surprised to find we were not tarred and feathered and chased out of town for being Americans. (Photo: The Black Lion pub in the center of this photo)
In fact, quite the contrary was true. I’ve shared the following story on my blog before, but it’s worth retelling today. On July 4, 2007, my wife and I had supper at The Black Lion, a typical pub just to the north of Kensington Gardens in London. Before we entered the pub, I wondered if I’d end up getting punched by some American-hating Britisher who’d had too many pints of ale. But when we entered The Black Lion, we found an unexpected scene. The whole place was decorated for American Independence Day, complete with red, white, and blue balloons, American flags, a blow-up Statue of Liberty, and a large sign welcoming American visitors and congratulating us on the occasion of our national holiday. Wow! What a happy surprise on the Fourth of July! (Photo: Inside the Black Lion)
So, no matter your nationality, may you have a happy fourth of July!
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Discipleship as Formational and Missional
By Mark D. Roberts | Friday, July 3, 2009
Part 7 of series: Missional and Formational?
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In my last post I showed that formational and missional realities were both present in Jesus’ own ministry, as he took time away from the crowds to pray, and these sessions of prayer guided Jesus in his mission.
One such pray time occurred just prior to Jesus’ selection of his key disciples. According to Luke,
Now during those days he went out to the mountain to pray; and he spent the night in prayer to God. And when day came, he called his disciples and chose twelve of them, whom he also named apostles (Luke 6:12-13)
Don’t you wish you could have listened in on that prayer session? I do. I wonder what Jesus talked about with his Heavenly Father. Surely a substantial chunk of their conversation had to do with those whom Jesus should choose as his disciples.
The Disciple’s Job Description
In Mark’s description of this sequence of events, he does not mention that Jesus prayed before selecting his followers. But Mark does add a telling description of the job description of a disciple:
He went up the mountain and called to him those whom he wanted, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, to be with him, and to be sent out to proclaim the message, and to have authority to cast out demons. (Mark 3:13-15)
What is the substance of the disciple’s job description? It has three elements, according to Mark’s description:
1. Be with Jesus.
2. Proclaim the message (of the kingdom of God).
3. Have authority to cast out demons.
Two of these elements are missional: proclaiming and casting out demons. One is essentially relational and formational: being with Jesus.
Mark is spelling out here what would have been intuitive to Jews at the time of Jesus. Disciples were apprentices who learned in relationship with a master. There was no learning apart from relationship, no growth in mastery except as passed on personally from the master to the disciple. So it was for those who would follow Jesus. They would learn to participate in his mission as they were with him.
Notice that the formational aspect of discipleship was essentially relational. The same is true for those of us who are disciples of Jesus today. We are formed, not by our own efforts, but through our relationship with God. As we spend time with him, in prayer and Bible study, in quiet and celebration, in solitude and in community with other disciples, we are shaped so that we might join him in his mission. For those of us who are more action oriented in our discipleship, we must remember that the core of our job description includes being with Jesus. Formation is essential for mission.
The Call to Discple-Making
Even as Jesus called people to be his disciples, so, after his resurrection, he sent these people out to make more disciples. In the classic statement of the Great Commission we read:
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)
In the original Greek of this text, the imperative “go” is actually a participle that is related to the main verb “make disciples” (28:19). The phrase could be literally translated, “Going, therefore, make disciples of all nations.” Of course, in context, the disciples would have to go away from the mountain in Galilee if they were going to make disciples of all nations. But the chief point wasn’t the going, but the disciple-making. (Photo: A painting by Duccio of “Appearance on the Mountain in Galilee” 1308-1311.)
Of course the disciples of Jesus faced several challenges that Jesus himself didn’t have to overcome. They were to make apprentices, not of themselves, but of Jesus. Yet they were to be the agents of apprenticeship. Thus, they would draw people into relationship with themselves so that the new disciples might “be with Jesus” and learn to do his mission.
Discipleship, therefore, has an essential formational element. All disciples of Jesus in all centuries are to be with Jesus, in part by being with the community of his other disciples. Formation in the church has to do, not only with the shaping of individuals, but also with the forming of communities that engage in the mission of Jesus. Moreover, mature disciples are to teach new disciples “to obey everything” that Jesus commanded his first disciples, including making more disciples. So discipleship also has an essential missional element in addition to an essential formational element. Formational and missional are inseparable in true discipleship of Jesus. Both are also quintessentially relational. Disciples are related to Jesus, to other disciples, and then to those they have been sent to reach with the good news of the kingdom.
If we focus on discipleship, understanding it as a kind of apprenticeship, then we will avoid the apparent tension between formational and missional. I have been in discussions with church leaders who argue about whether the church should focus on educational or evangelism. But when we see Christian education as discipleship, then the evangelistic component is built in. We are to educate our people to be disciples who have been trained to make other disciples, in part by sharing the good news.
A focus on discipleship also avoids the ostensible conflict between the relational and missional dimensions of church life. When I was Pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church, we began to be more intentionally a church that accepted our identity as missional church. We knew we had been placed in Irvine, not just for ourselves, but for others. This was troubling to some members of the church, who feared that their needs would be forgotten in this missional emphasis. But they failed to grasp the extent to which the relationship is an essential dimension of Christian mission. A missional church isn’t just, or even mainly, a church that does outreach programs. Rather, it is a church that is bound together by the Spirit as a community of discipleship. Members are related first to God and then to each other in Christ. These relationships, when rightly understood, are not just for the benefit of those who enjoy them. They are also a primary platform for mission. Disciples in relationship with each other reach out to draw others into the community of disciples. That’s what Christian mission is all about.
So, we would be well-served if we focused on discipleship, not only because this was Jesus’ final marching order for his church, but also because discipleship weaves together the formational, relational, and missional aspects of church life.
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Prayer and Mission in the Ministry of Jesus
By Mark D. Roberts | Thursday, July 2, 2009
Part 6 of series: Missional and Formational?
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If you read through the Gospels looking for connections between formational and missional, you’ll discover plenty of them. In today’s post I’ll cite and comment on one pregnant example. Consider this passage from the Gospel of Mark:
35 In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. 36 And Simon and his companions hunted for him. 37 When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is searching for you.” 38 He answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.” 39 And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons. (Mark 1:35-39)
First of all, note that Jesus got up very early, went to a place of solitude, and spent ample time in prayer. When Peter told him that “everyone” was searching for him, we might have expected Jesus to be thrilled that his ministry was becoming popular. But instead of responding to his adoring audience, Jesus decided instead to move on to “neighboring towns” so as to proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God.
In the flow of this short episode, it seems as if Jesus’ unexpected decision to spurn popularity in favor of fulfilling his true mission was connected with his extended time in prayerful solitude. Though we’re not told the content of his conversation with his Heavenly Father, the narrative suggests that this allowed him to discern his next steps in his mission.
As a pastor, I have often thought about this passage from Mark’s Gospel. One of the greatest dangers for pastors and other Christian leaders is popularity. The more popular we become, the more we are tempted to play to the crowds. To more people like us, the more we can become drunk on the elixir of human approval, and therefore less likely to discern God’s direction for our lives and ministries. One way to avoid this trap, it seems to me, is to imitate Jesus’ example of extended time in solitude and prayer. I know many pastors and Christian leaders who do this on a regular basis. But I also know how hard it is to maintain this discipline, especially when the demands of ministry and family cry out for attention. In fact, the more popular you become in some area of ministry, the more difficult it will be for you to find time to get alone with God.
When I was Senior Pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church, I found extended time of conversation with God to be absolutely essential to my leadership, my personal well-being, and my family life. I was blessed to live only about twenty minutes from a three-mile stretch of secluded beach. For many years, I tried to spend at least an hour at least once a week walking along the beach and praying. I can’t tell you how many times I began these ambling prayer sessions by telling God that I wanted him to do something, only to discover that my initial requests were not consistent with God’s will for me or my ministry. As I prayed, the Spirit of God was forming and reforming my own spirit, helping me to desire the things of God and to discern what those things were. (Photo: My favorite prayer spot in Southern California, the beach of Crystal Cove State Park.)
I don’t think that what I’ve just described is only for pastors and other “official” Christian leaders. All of us need to find times and places where we can be alone with God for long enough to bear our souls so we can begin to listen. If Jesus needed to do this, how much more do we need the same!
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