A Prayer

This summer Derek, the pastor at my church, asked if I might be interested in speaking at a Sunday night service. That didn't end up working out, but this week I had the opportunity to participate by giving the intercessory prayer* in the middle of the service. It was encouraging to be asked and a neat opportunity to be a part of a Sunday service.

I thought I'd post the prayer here, not because it's anything wonderful, but because it's my hope and prayer for us as God's Church around the world. For those of us in the Church, my prayer is that this would be true of us. For those who are not apart of the Church or who don't believe in Christ as their Lord and Saviour, I pray that, if and when they do interact with the Church or with Christians, this is the sort of church they would experience.

[Note: I've put in verse references to the passages from Scripture that are referred to, in case you were curious.]

In the Gospel of John, Jesus tells his disciples:

'A new command I give you: [...] As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this
all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another' [John 13:34-5]

Will you join me in praying that this would be true of us - as God's dearly loved children [John 1:12] - and of His church - who are His ambassadors to the world. [2 Cor 5:20]


Dear heavenly Father,

We come before you, deeply grateful that while we were yet sinners, you loved us so much that you sent your sinless Son to die that you might have a relationship with us, a sinful people. [Rom 5:8]

Father, we look around at this broken world and are daily reminded of the darkness that is here. Our hearts break for the young girl who was found, locked in a shed, 18 years after she was kidnapped. Our hearts break for her pain, and our hearts are heavy for those who perpetrated this crime against her - that one human could do such a thing to another is hard to believe. And our hearts go out to the grieving families affected by this week's accident near Newry.

Father, we pray that your Church would be agents of love and healing in both of these situations. May your Church, of which we are a part, be conduits of your love and healing throughout our city, our nation, and this world. May the World experience, through us, the richness of your love. Give us boldness and courage, that your Church might step into the darkest areas of people's lives and shine the light of your Son.

As students begin to return to University and others begin for the first time, help us to reach out to those in our community. That as you bring them into this place - whether it be for a meal, a chat, or to find You - they would experience your love through us. Father, may this be a place where, even as you reached out to us when we were sinners, in the same way, we would welcome - in spite of the colour of their skin, the quirks of their personalities, or the sin in their lives - all those that you bring through our doors. May our lives testify to the abundant life [John 10:10] we have in You and we pray, most of all, that through us and through this place, others would come to experience, for themselves, the freedom [Gal 2:4, 5:1] and joy [Phil 1:26] of a relationship with You in Christ!

Father, we reflect on our own lives and remember what Christ said his disciples: that the world would know they were his disciples by the love they showed for one another. [John 13;35] As we sit today, among your family - this body of Christ, of which we are a part - we think of those seated to our right and to our left, of those we enjoy spending time with and those we have not spoken to in years. May we spur one another on in love and good deeds [Heb 10:24] - that we might reach out to one another. If there are relationships in our lives, ways in which we interact with each other, that aren't loving, give us eyes to see and repentant hearts to change. May we lay down our bitterness, our anger, or our jealousy by serving one another, in love. Help us to make the decision each day to think of others as more important then ourselves [Phil 2:3] - and may we love and serve one another with that in mind.

Christ showed his disciples his love when he washed their feet the last night he was with them. [John 13:1] Give us eyes to see ways in which we might serve one another - and the humility of heart to do act on those opportunities. We are told that greater love has no man than this, than he lay down his life for his friends. [John 15:13] Holy Spirit, grow us into a people that lay down our lives - every part of them - our pride and our preferences, our desires and our wants, our accomplishments and our egos - to serve those around us - this wonderful body of Christ we are a part of. [Eph 5:21] May we become the Family you have called us to be and, in so doing, be a beacon of your Light to the World that is around us and among us. [Matt 5:14-6]

Where there is hurt and distance, may we reach out in love and forgiveness. Where there is loneliness and heart ache, may we reach out in tenderness and compassion, choosing to be a part of one another's lives. As ministers of Your Gospel - in this world and to one another - help us to lay down all of who were are - for you, Lord - and for each other.

We ask that all these things would be true of us and of your Church around the world, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit - who empowers us and enables us to show Your love to each other and to the World we live in that desperately needs you.

We pray all these things in Your name, Amen.

My prayer: That the Triune God, and His deep love for His creation, would be known by all through our love for one another.

*It struck me last night, when I finished writing this, that it isn't really a prayer of intercession...I don't think anyways. Oops!

The End, the Beginning, or the Middle?

The last of the laundry from this summer's JBU groups is done.
I'm really excited - a load takes over 3 hours between washing and drying.

In preparation for next year's staff - two great couples, the Goldfain's and the Beckman's, and my great housemate this year, John Lenschow - arriving at Lakeside over the next four weeks, I moved out of my room and into one of the guest's rooms. I move from this being my home to a place of transition. I leave in six weeks (hard to believe that I've been here for nearly a year!) and between now and then there's a lot that will happen - much of it for the last time.

Tonight I'm getting together with a group of friends from Queen's. While I'm guessing we'll get together as a group again before I leave, members of the group start leaving this week to head to jobs and graduate programs in the US. I'm still not feeling great (I've been down with a cold or flu since last Fri), but I'm going to dose up on medicine and my goal is to try to be there for an hour before I'm completely worn out. By far, this group has been one of the best things that's happened to me this year!

Having grown up as a missionary kid, attended a missionary school in Kenya, been a part of a mega-church in Little Rock, and gone to a Christian university, my life has been lived around evangelical Christians - whether simply cultural Christians or those who really do know the joy of life in Christ. Within minutes of stepping off the plane last September, I met three amazing people that have been wonderful friends this year: Megan, Jude, and Melissa. They come from really different backgrounds, with sometimes very different perspectives on life. Their experiences in life, their passions, their knowledge, and their beliefs have helped me grow in huge ways this year. They've stretched me to think about what I believe, what I know, and how I understand the world. They haven't always changed my mind, but I'd like to think that, through it all, we've sharpened one another.

Through them, and the beginnings of a four-person weekly dinner, the group grew into nearly 20 people who have been an absolute blast! I've made great friends from Vancouver, Seattle, San Francisco, Pheonix, Missouri, Magrefalt, Dublin, Belfast, etc.. We all see the world in different ways and understand religion and belief from a variety of perspectives and backgrounds. Through several of them, I was introduced to the joys of the Catholic church and the many there who love Jesus, Scripture, and God's heart for the world.

So, tonight, in many ways, is the last time we all have the chance to be together, as people leave. It begins a season of lasts, at least for the time being, for me. I'll turn in my last paper (my dissertation) to the history office four weeks from today. I rented what will probably be my last rental car here and showed friends around the North Coast for the last time this past week. I just finished the final loads of laundry for Lakeside. Here in four weeks, or so, I'll worship for the last time, for now, with the wonderful church family at Fisherwick - a family I've grown to love, who have welcomed me so warmly, and who I will deeply miss. In a few weeks, I'll go out for the last time with the S.O.S. Bus on a Friday night. I'll pay my last phone bill to Orange and order pizza delivery from Bella Italia for the last time.

This year has brought so much into my life. I am sad to see the end, but really, I'm more occupied with the wonders and the richness that have been a part of this year. The writer of Eccliasastes points out, rightly I think, that our life comes in seasons. This year was never meant to go on forever, but I'm deeply thankful that it's been part of my life. C.S. Lewis, in Peralandra, which I'm reading now, comments that an experience is wonderful because it's not common. This year has been anything but common and it has been wonderful.

This morning I posted on my Facebook status that moving rooms today meant the beginning of the end. In several ways that's true. It's one of the first events, with a number to follow, that mark the end of my year here in Ireland. A year I never expected 14 months ago would happen.

A wonderful friend, who's really more of a brother, Justin, pointed out that maybe it's really just the end of the beginning. Knowing Justin, I had to laugh at his quip, but there's truth to it. In many ways, this year marks the end of over 20 years of schooling. Sure, I hope to go on to a PhD, but that's really all that's left. The beginning of my life was characterized by institutional education. This marks the beginning of a lifetime of learning primarily in non-institutional forms.

After Justin, Dr. Robbie Castleman, one of my professor's at JBU who has deeply impacted, in awesome ways, my life, wrote that maybe this is 'somewhere in the middle of that which you know not at this time.' Probably in more ways then either of the previous two, her comment is true. I don't really believe life is what we make it or that we're simply on a predetermined course - that fate somehow has dictated the steps of our life. I think both extreme do not do justice to the experience of our lives. I would say that life is somewhere in the middle, in the tension of the two - that they hold each other in check. That we have the ability to make decisions in our lives, but our influence only goes so far. There's someone far greater than any of us, who's acting and moving at the same time. And it's my choice to follow in step with His movements, His lead, and His direction - but He'll never force me to. I'm not stuck in fate's predetermined track, nor am I left up to my own to make my way in this world.

And so it's somewhere in the middle of eternity that this year finds itself. For you see, I always existed in the mind of God and I will exist for eternity. So, this year - this wonderful, stretching, growing, life-changing, enriching year - comes as part of that story. In following Him, this year plays a part in what He has planned for me. Like everyone, I have the choice to follow Him.

However, after 26 years of incredible adventures, people, and experiences, I don't plan to ever stop following. I celebrated my birthday last week - as friends reminded me, if I was a fish, I would have been flushed down the toilet long ago :-) - and, perhaps more so then ever, this year in Northern Ireland and this year's birthday celebration have both solidified my commitment to follow Him - it's been one heck of a ride and I think the best is yet to come.