Pray the Cliche

Have you ever stopped to think about what we pray in church?  It's almost as if there is a prescribed way to pray when we our in church.  Somehow, our brain tingles a little bit differently, our vocabulary sounds like the seventh page of the SAT's, and our voice takes on a sort of Shakespearian tone.  Sounds familiar doesn't it?  One thing is for sure when we pray in church...We certainly pray the cliche.  

(clears throat, assumes perfect posture, bows head, and closes eyes)

"Dear Lord, be with us now in these moments because we know, Lord, that where two or three are gathered in Your name, there you are in there midst, Lord.  Just help me to let go and let God.  May I love the sinner  but hate the sin.  Help me to get right so I don't get left.  I mean, I've got to stand for something or I'll fall for anything.  I know you love me just as I am, but too much to leave me there.  Bring a fresh move of Your Spirit so all of us believers can stand in the gap as You raise up a new generation.  Yes, Lord, Your pain is definitely my gain.  Amen." ([re]UNDERSTANDING Prayer by Kyle Lake, pg. xxii)

Ouch.  That really hurts.  Especially since that is exactly what I have done from time to time in my life.  Whenever I am empty and void of true and honest communion with God, I can always pray the cliche.  I keep it in my back pocket in case I need it somewhere.  I can pull out the youth friendly version, the senior adult version, the suit and tie version, and the hurry-pray-before-somone-takes-a-bite-version!

What I have discovered in my up and down prayer life is that simple prayer goes a long way.  Take a look at the Lord's Prayer for instance.  It's about simple everyday needs.  It's about our place before God.  It's also about who God is and what he wants from us.  It is a plea to God to be faithful to his promise.  I have taken time the last few days to move deeper into the Lord's Prayer.  So far, I am stuck on the first two words - "Our Father."  There is so much richness in those two words that I have sat right in the midst of them this past week.  So many verses, emotions, feelings, remembrances have billowed out of my soul this week just in thinking of those two words.  I cannot tell you how much I have prayed those words over and over this past week.  And, I feel like my prayer life has grown tremendously.  It's as if those words of Jesus have now become the very echo of my soul, and they carry me.  Simply awesome!

But the journey to these two words has not been easy.  I've had to leave cliches, my favorite Christian phrases, and my prayer reflexes behind.  What has kept me from this journey?  I think my upbringing has scripted for me what the drama of my prayer life is supposed to be.  I'm supposed to pray at particular times, with particular words, and for particular things.  But this journey has moved me far beyond these lies.  Just like I can act like I'm supposed to for certain situations and people, I can pray like I'm supposed to for certain situations and people.  Somewhere along the way I was fed a lie.  It's a lie that tells me I'm supposed to have everything together before I pray.  I think this is a particularly big struggle for our teens.  Then I found freedom in prayer.  Richard Foster put it this way - "We pray by grace just as we are saved by grace.  God has a relationship with us despite our sinfulness, mixed motives, and selfish nature."

Over this past week, I have laid before God what is in me, not what ought to be in me.  I have learned prayer simply by praying.  I'll put it to you this way.  If you've got kids or have been a kid (are we missing anyone?) then at some point you created some pretty awful artwork.  But when you brought it home, your parents thought it was the greatest thing ever.  They put that junk all over the fridge removing any chance of your house ever being featured in Southern Living.  It was museum worthy to them, especially if it had anything to do with them or said "To: Mom" or "To: Dad," "From: Ross (insert your name or your child's here to make sense of this!)  It was better than anything they had ever seen.  Well if we go back to those first two words, "Our Father," then I suppose we are God's children.  I would imagine I have quite a few awful prayer drawings slapped up on God's fridge.  And because I put his name on them, I know he is a proud Father.  Not to mention I'm sure he's not worried about living anywhere in the southern vicinity, if you catch my drift.

The point is simple.  Simply pray, and pray simply.  Do an experiment with your teens or as a family.  Walk through the Lord's Prayer a couple words a week.  Meditate and talk together in the way Jesus taught us to pray.  I had plans for moving on next week, but I'm not sure I'm past "Our Father."

The Undignified and Unpredictable Worshipper

Stop!  Wherever you are, take the next five seconds off of work, the kids, or your busy schedule.  Stand up, and show off your best dance moves!  No, really, get up and dance like a good Baptist should!

Seems a bit undignified, a little improper for the workplace...and it might be.  But, undignified and unpredictable should be key characteristics of us as worshippers.  Look at the story of David bringing home the ark of the covenant (2 Samuel 6:12-16).  As he worships in an undignified manner, God is certainly pleased.  True worship forgets what others think.  Sometimes, it even makes others uncomfortable.  I mean really, what if people just broke out in dance for God?  I personally would be a bit uncomfortable.  For five seconds Wednesday night I asked the kids to stand and show off their best dance moves.  Some participated.  Others just kind of stood there looking really awkward.  They were too concerned with what others thought.  But in that moment, they were the ones who looked out of place.  I mean if 15 out of the 100 kids are going bananas with their best dance moves, that overshadows the other 85 who are just standing still in place.  Our worship carries this same weight.  True worship doesn't care about others.  It's not concerned with rules and regulations, tempo, or genre.  True worship is shown in undignified love and affection for God.  Or flip to Luke 15 and read the story of the Prodigal Son.  The father bounces out of his rocking chair on the front porch when he sees his son off in the distance.  Instead of waiting for him to return, he runs after him so that he can embrace him ASAP!  A king and a father in ancient culture coming unglued in undignified forms of affection.  That is the essence of the undignified worshipper.  So, now that you've read this go ahead and actually stand up and bust out the most convincing 5 seconds of the water sprinkler ever seen!

True worship isn't just undignified, but it's unpredictable.  It grows out of spontaneous encounters with Christ.  Read Mark 14:1-9.  The woman's worship happens in an unscripted encounter.  She is free to respond to Christ in a way that is deep, is intimate, and unpredictable.  It's a beautiful and gripping scene. We, the church, are God’s bride.  We’re not meant to have a dry and predictable relationship.  It’s a divine romance full of life and energy.  True romance is never predictable.  It cannot contain its instinctive responses to the one it adores.  People in love do lots of crazy things.  They do things that probably embarrass the people around them.


William Barclay says it this way, “Love does not stop to nicely calculate the less or more; loves does not stop to work out how little it can respectably give.  With a kind of divine extravagance, love gives everything it has and never counts the cost.  Calculation is never any part of love.”


Give everything as you worship!  Be an undignified and an unpredictable worshipper.  Embarrass your kids and family and break out in an unscripted and undignified life song that is written and played in response to the God who got up from his seat and chased after you!
 

Fast Food Faith

Secular Business writer Jim Collins says it best.  "Good is the enemy of great...We don't have great schools, principally because we have good schools.  We don't have great government principally because we have good government.  Few people attain great lives, in large part because it is just so easy to settle for a good life."

Have you ever met one of those "save-the-world" types?  We read about them.  We think to ourselves that what they do is great.  We love watching them on TV.  Sometimes, we even get a little teary eyed at their stories.  Then, we close the book, set down the paper, put the magazine back on the stand, turn off the TV, and get back to real life checking out at the grocery store, fixing dinner for the kids, paying the bills, and heading to bed so we can get up and do it all again tomorrow morning.  And for us, it's a good life.  And for our kids, we hope it's a good life too.  

I think our faith is like this scenario sometimes.  When it comes to those "save-the-world" types, Jesus lands somewhere on our list.  We come to church, we hear sermons, we have Bible study, and we feel good about ourselves.  We have a good relationship with God.  And so, we feel good about ourselves.  Buuut, at the end of the day, we're back to real life.  We can usually manage to get through life with good faith in a good God as we go to a good church.

But that's where the problem lies.  God is not just good.  He is great and mighty, able to save.  And so, in the business of real life, we pass on fast food faith to our kiddos.  We run through the drive through with our kids in the back seat.  We pass them a Happy Meal complete with a toy.  And for us as parents and youth workers, the Happy Meal is a good thing because it satisfies the kids and keeps them quiet.  It's quick and easy.  

But faith is not quick and easy.  And while we pass Happy Meals into the back seat, our students our missing out on what it means to dine with Christ.  They are missing gourmet faith.  We've replaced Christ with a cheap substitute that does a wonder on their spiritual cholesterol.  No wonder when they're 21 Happy Meals don't make them happy anymore.  No wonder only 8% of teens have consequential faith meaning they own their faith for themselves. (National Study of Youth and Religion).  No wonder 88% of teens no longer attend church after they graduate High School (International Mission Board).

We can't keep feeding them cheap and easy faith.  We can't let them settle for good when our God is great.  Think about the education of teenagers.  They are doing calculus, chemistry, trigonometry, and speaking foreign languages.  We teach our children for the sake of their education.  Millions of dollars are spent on sports equipment and private lessons for students who will never play professional sports much less make a walk on at a college.  We teach and train and equip.  We all have plans for the education of our children.  We even save for their college education hoping to provide them with a good life.  

All the while, we simply expose them to our faith once or twice a week at church.  We drop them off for an hour or two and hope for some sort of spiritual osmosis.  We think by getting them in the doors that faith will make its way into their lives.  But, we never teach them faith.  We struggle to teach them how to pray.  We help them answer their questions about algebra, but we hope they don't ask us any tough questions about faith.  It's time we invite them to sit at the table and savor the greatness of Christ.  It's time we teach them faith.  It's time we don't just have save-the-world type people but save-the-world type families who teach and translate faith in the home.  What if some of us set aside money to send our kids on a mission trip when they graduated High School hoping and praying it would make a lasting difference in their faith journey once they were on their own in the world?  What is we had a spiritual checklist of things we wanted to share and teach our kids about faith before they graduated?  What if we worked to unveil the greatness of God to our kids while we have the chance?  We're underestimating our teenagers.  If they can learn chemistry and calculus, they can certainly learn theology.  

Look at what happens when people sit at the table with Christ in the Scriptures.  I hope we don't just drive through life, but we participate in saving the world.  I hope we are inviting our teens to dine with Christ each and every day.  I hope that as we gather around the table we are sharing stories about life transformation and greatness that would make for great TV, magazine articles, newspaper stories, and the like.  And I hope people are watching our stories unfold.  And as they watch, I hope they are moved to join us at the table.  

ELEV8

ENCOUNtER, our Wednesday night youth service, is headed in a very specific direction this school year.  After asking ourselves some important questions, we feel as though our students need a platform or foundation from which they can elevate their lives by living in the Spirit and authority of God and making practical faith applications each day.  Ultimately, this will accomplish our greatest goal which is to elevate the name of God in this community and throughout the world.  

Theme for the Year - ELEV8

What do students need to elevate their standards of living in their current circumstances and surroundings?  Furthermore, by what standards should they be living?  This school year we will seek to elevate our standards to those of God.   How will we do that?

INTEGR8 – This will be our theme of study for the Fall semester of the school year.  We will look at different spiritual disciplines throughout scripture.  I firmly believe that Kingdom living involves disciplined living.  These sermons and teachings will help students not only understand the importance of the spiritual disciplines, but will also give them a practical application and understanding of the spiritual disciplines so that they can integrate them into their daily living and thinking. 

NAVIG8 – With a desire to elevate our standards of living and a practical foundation built upon the practice of spiritual disciplines, the Spring semester of the school year will be built around navigating through difficult issues your teenagers face on a regular basis.  We are going to tackle a number of difficult but relevant topics.  We are going to wrestle with temptations, questions, hurts, and many other issues that challenge the claims and authenticity of Christianity.

John 8:11-12

“Go on your way. From now on, don't sin."  Jesus once again addressed them: "I am the world's Light. No one who follows me stumbles around in the darkness. I provide plenty of light to live in." (The Message)

We are called to go and to live a life free from sin.  This is only possible because Jesus is the light.  If we follow him, we will ELEV8 his name in this world.  The practice of spiritual disciplines will lead us to live a life freed from sin.  Furthermore, with Christ as our headlamp, we will navigate through this life in a way that honors God and follows his direction in our lives.  

Follow us on the blog each week to connect with your student and what they learn each Wednesday night at our ENCOUNtER service.  Leave comments, ask questions, and share stories of how your family is connecting.  Take time to be the greatest spiritual influence in your student’s life.  

FUGE Recap

          Whether your child went to CentriFuge or M-Fuge, you can rest assured they had an ENCOUNtER with God during the week.  Everything about the camp is designed to bring your student into the presence of God.  Games, worship, service, and everything else your student did during the week was aimed at embracing the truth of the Gospel.
          Let me brag for a moment...First, our students received compliments everywhere we went.  When we checked out of one of the hotels, the staff commented that we had a group of young adults rather than teenagers.  Furthermore, in the PCY groups (paint, construction, yard work), our kids outworked every other group there.  Yes I am biased, but our kids were the hardest workers at camp - no doubt!  Your kids were well behaved and a joy to be around.  Secondly, no church at this camp had the support of volunteers like our Youth Group.  Our adults easily out numbered every church, even churches that brought more students.  The Fuge staff was even impressed that we had brought a caravan of 9 personally owned vehicles.  What is impressive is that this church rallies together to watch God work in the lives of students.
         On August 7th, we will be baptizing some of our students who have accepted Christ this year.  You will also be given the opportunity to hear from the students firsthand about what God is doing in their lives.  Encourage your student to share with you about their week.  Specifically ask them about connecting with the Gospel, God's mission, and how their life will be lived differently after a week of camp.
          One last note...I think one of the spiritual disciplines we often forget is the spiritual discipline of celebration.  The service on August 7th will be a celebration of what God is doing in the lives of students in our church.  Richard Foster puts it this way, "Joy is part of the fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22).  Often I am inclined to think that joy is the motor, the thing that keeps everything else going.  Without joyous celebration to infuse the other disciplines, we will sooner or later abandon them.  Joy produces energy.  Joy makes us strong."  Our students are energized.  They are poised and strong.  It brings me great joy to serve them alongside of you all.

FUGE UPDATE #2

Things have been going great.  We have settled in and are working hard in the community already.  Each of your children miss you dearly!!!  We had some really great conversations last night, and God is clearly working in and through our students already.  The students have been challenged to connect with Gospel and those who do not know Christ.  Last night in our Church Group Devotion time, I also challenged the kids to disconnect from anything that keeps them from connecting with the Gospel.  Our adults also spent some time focusing in on the heart of our ministry and how they can better connect with students.  Brainstorming, ideas, and projects are in the works.  Look for changes and new conversations when we get back.

On a fun note, Scotty and I took five 14 and 15 year old boys to Olive Garden tonight.  We will never do that again!  We laughed a lot but I feel terrible for our poor waitress.  However, your kids tipped well.  Also, last night was a themed cartoon dress up night which featured several of our kids.  We also had a Smurf family from our church including yours truly as Papa Smurf.  We are out and in the community serving.  Continue to pray for us as we press deeper into the heart of the Gospel tonight.

Pray for attentive ears and listening hearts.  Pray for clarity from scripture.  Pray for a connection with the Gospel.  Pray for safety as we travel.  Pray for courage for students to respond to what God is doing in their lives.  

FUGE Update

We made it safely to the hotel last night after 32,567 stops.  All nine cars and 52 people made the journey safely.  After a few "swimming pool showers" we went to bed and woke up this morning to a hot breakfast.  Somebody just burned a waffle as I am typing.  Just a three hour trip today until we arrive at camp.  Everyone seems rested, and we look forward to worshipping tonight.  God is already at work.  Thank you for your prayers and support.  I look forward to sharing some awesome stories with you about the work and transformation God is doing later in the week.

Also, I will buy some candy and a soda for the child of the first parent who comments back with the starting five players of the World Champion Dallas Mavericks at the end of the NBA playoffs.