Three Keys to Kingdom Prayer

I heard some great news this week.  Our sending church, The Sanctuary Milton, has found a new place to hold its Sunday gatherings.  This is great news in and of itself, but it also comes with a bit of a back story which makes the story quite remarkable.

Back while I was still working at The Sanctuary Milton, the spot that we were renting let us know that they would be undergoing renovations for six months and that we would not have access to our meeting space.  We knew that we had to find a new location.  Being in Canada's fastest growing community, however, meant that there was a lot of people and groups looking to rent but few spaces available.  We looked and looked.  One of the places was a bit out of town but had some potential, and for some reason it found a place in the heart of my colleague Jim.  The management, however, had other ideas and let us know in no uncertain terms that they did not want to be bothered with hosting a church each week.  We ended up finding a great room at a great price elsewhere, but it had limited space for growth so we knew that another search could be in our future.  Over the last number of years, The Sanctuary Milton continued to meet in its new location.  More recently, the church has begun to grow a bit again, and has seen an influx of children.  They also have new folks heading up the children's ministry and are excited about what they are seeing and the possibilities.  With growth, the problem of space had reared its head again; a good problem to have but a problem none the less.  What would happen next?

Over these last few years, Jim has continued to feel a prompting to pray for that other location.  Every once in a while he would check again, but with the same management there was the same sentiment, so Jim just quietly continued to pray.  On a whim, and with a bit of desperation I am sure, when this last discussion of the need for more room arose, Jim decided to check back again.  To his great surprise, there was a new manager.  Not only was there a new manager, but he was a Christian.  Not only was he a Christian but he had come come to faith in the last city that he worked in, in a church that is connected to our denomination.  The greatest coincidence, however, is that he had come to faith in a church that was one of the first churches to partner with the Sanctuary Oakville, the first church that Jim had come to Canada to plant almost 14 years ago.  It took some time, but God was at work and we have seen an answer to Jim's persistent prayer.

When I heard this story, I was reminded of Luke chapter  11 in which Jesus teaches about prayer.  He not only teaches the Lord's prayer but He then follows it with two parables.  The first, is about a someone who has a surprise guests in the middle of the night and must go and ask a neighbour for bread in order to show hospitality to his guests.  The second, is about Father's giving good gifts to their children.  From these two parables we get three lessons about prayer, three keys to kingdom prayer that I believe Jim's prayer helps to highlight.

1)  Persistence:
The first principle is that of persistence.  When the individual in the parable first goes to their neighbour for bread they receive a negative response.  None the less, they are not deterred.  Similarly, Jim, although he received negative responses years, continued to feel prompted to pray, to trust God the Father and to hold fast to the belief that His heavenly Father could and would provide for his needs and the needs of the church. 


2)  Recognizing God's Glory:
Although some English translations put the emphasis of the first parable solely on the persistence of the one asking for bread, it is quite likely that there is something else going on as well.  Although there certainly is persistence from the one asking, seeing as he received a negative response but did not go away empty handed, the word that is translated "persistence" in verse 8 is likely better translated "shamelessness."  This being the case, it actually puts the emphasis back on the one to whom the request is being made.  It is drawing on ancient customs of hospitality which would make a failure to help his friend and neighbour a shameful act and bring dishonour.  Thus, the parable suggests that friendship alone should have been enough to want to help, but the threat of dishonour would certainly prompt a response of aid.  It is the same with God.  When we come to God with genuine petitions of need then we might expect that, as we were prompted to pray "hallowed by Your name," and "Your Kingdom come," (Luke 11:2), that God's honour and vindication of His name are of utmost importance.  We can trust God to intervene in the lives of His children as He restores honour to His name.   As one who has prayed with Jim many times over the years I know that God's glory is of utmost importance to Him.  I have heard him pray on numerous occasions for God to do something only God could do so that only God himself would receive the glory that is do.  Jim's heart for the church is that God might be glorified by a family of believers holding up the name of Jesus within the community.  Jim could trust that if a new space was a need for the church to move forward within the community, then God would hear and answer for the sake of His own glory.

3)  Recognizing God's Love:
Lastly, but certainly not least, is to recognize God's love for his children.  Jesus' teaching on prayer begins with the invitation to address God as Father, and ends with a parable about Father's giving good gifts to their children.  "If you then, being evil, now how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him."  Not only will God give good gifts to His children, but He will give the best gift, that being the Holy Spirit.  Our prayer is grounded in a relationship with God as Father, the one who loves and gives good gifts, the one who promises to meet the needs of those who love him.  Jim continued to trust God the Father with his needs and the needs of the church.  Through the sacrifice of Jesus, we are invited into relationship with God as Father, one who loves, cares for and provides for his children, providing not just good gifts to meet their needs, but the best gift, above and beyond expectations.

I mentioned earlier that this new facility was a bit out of town.  To be honest, its locations was not exactly ideal and visible.  In the six years since the first inquiry was made however, the town has continued to grow and expand at a rapid pace.  What once was outside of town is now right on the edge of the newest growth and right in the middle of some of the next biggest growth plans for the town.  So it seems that perhaps God was waiting a bit to answer this prayer.  Maybe one reason was simply that we might learn more about prayer. 

3 Keys for Fruitful Gospel Conversations

I had the most amazing conversation about Jesus the other day, and it started with an honest question.  The student was very hesitant, expressing that she was afraid that I might be offended.  I assured her that I love questions and see them as extremely important in the journey of faith.  Her question was “how do we know it is true?”  What followed was an amazing time of exploration as we delved into apologetics.

This experience helped me to recognize, and relearn, some invaluable insights about sharing the faith.  Firstly, is the importance of apologetics, secondly, the value of listening and thirdly, the importance of a safe place to ask questions.

Apologetics: Apologetics is not making an apology for the faith (although there are many who think that perhaps it should be).  Wikipedia defines it as “the discipline of defending a position (often religious) through the systematic use of information.”  It is making a well reasoned defense, or explanation for the faith.  In a post modern culture like we have here in Canada, it is no longer sufficient to simply say “because the bible says so.”  That will merely beg the question “why should I believe the bible?”  People hold very real concerns that Jesus and scripture are not historical, not accurate and not trustworthy and this is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to questions and skepticism over matters of faith and religion.  So the question is, are we prepared to engage with such questions because it is becoming an increasing necessity as we share about Jesus.

Listening: I am also reminded about the real value and necessity of good, honest questions as we discuss and wrestle with issues of faith.  Personally, I have found that it is often questions that lead to the biggest breakthroughs and growth moments in the journey of faith.  Questions also mean that we are addressing thoughts and concerns that people actually have.  In order to hear questions, however, it means that we need to develop good listening skills and along with good listening skills we might actually have to engage with someone outside of the faith community.  It is amazing the things you learn when you engage with people, and you hear what they are thinking, questioning and how they perceive the church.  It is often different from what you thought, or what someone told you people think.  We will never be able to meet people where they are, and we will always be missing the mark if we don’t engage, don’t listen and don’t welcome good, hard, honest questions.

A Safe place:  Along with good listening skills and addressing questions comes perhaps the most important factor for faith conversations, which is creating a safe environment.  Is your environment, and more specifically are you, a safe place to bring questions and have conversations about faith?  This comes down to whether we treat all people with dignity, respect and compassion and, as we seek to serve, be willing to engage with people wherever they are at.  Apologetics and questions can lead to fruitful conversations but can also very quickly degenerate into debates.  If we are interested in winning the battle, proving the faith and beating down questions then we are not creating a safe place for people to engage.   Do we present ourselves, as open, caring and safe?

I admit, I was sad to hear that my friend was hesitant to share her questions because she was afraid of offending me.  It reminded me that I have to be more diligent about  ensuring everyone around me feel comfortable to share honestly and ask questions.  I need to be better at truly listening.  In the past I have been sharing what I thought  people might benefit from knowing when I could have been addressing what they were actually struggling with.  When I did, it gave such a rich opportunity to draw on some of the apologetic  insights that others have shared with me.  When that did happen, it was a rich and fruitful conversation and I long to have more of those in the future.

If you are looking for some apologetic resources below is a short list of resources I have found helpful, some specifically apologic in nature, some not, but all useful:

Mere Christianity - C.S. Lewis
The Reason For God - Timothy Keller
The Case for Christ - Lee Strobel
More than a Carpenter - Josh McDowell

This is a very short limited list and I would love for you to add to the suggestion list.

How Is Your Face Today?

“I was walking to work this week,”  Emma shared, “and everyone just looked sad.  There were a lot of people out, but everyone just looked down.  Then all of a sudden this guy bounds around the corner finishing a morning jog, with such exuberance on his face and lets out  joyous exclamation of accomplishment.  I first thought ‘how could running ever produce such joy,’ but then I found myself asking, ‘I wonder what my face is expressing?’”

It was a great, and quite profound, observation that was shared at a Fellowship gathering a while back.   What do our faces express?  As the church, are we expressing joy and exuberance?  It reminded me of a passage from Eugene Peterson in A Long Obedience in the same Direction in which he quotes a friend:

For if a pastor is not in touch with joy, it will be difficult to teach or preach convincingly that the news is good.  If you do not convey joy in your demeanor and gestures and speech, you will not be an authentic witness for Jesus Christ.  

I think that it is safe to say that this goes for more than just pastors, but for all who would claim to be followers of Jesus.  So how about you, how is your face today?

3 Words That Change The World

I was recently meditating on the three words “moved with compassion” that described Jesus’ response to a man with a skin disease who came for healing.  As I tried to deeply ponder these words I was struck by this thought, “what must it have been like for Jesus?”

Colossians 1:16 tells us that

...everything was created by Him,
in heaven and on earth,
the visible and the invisible,
whether thrones or dominions
or rulers or authorities—
all things have been created through Him and for Him.

So, as Jesus encountered this ailing man he was directly confronted by the effects of the fall that had so devastatingly ravaged and perverted His beautiful creation.  This man, who was lovingly fashioned to bear His very own image, now such a distorted broken reflection.  How heartbreaking to see what had befallen that which was created with such love and attention.  But this man, though broken and distorted by sin, was an image bearer none the less, and Jesus still having a heart for His creation is moved to compassion.  In his healing, we get a glimpse of compassion that leads to justice, and a foretaste of the final restoration that is to come because of the compassion of Jesus.

3 Basics of Community Discipleship

Our goal for the Hamilton Fellowships is to grow a network of interdependent Fellowships that make disciples, in community and on mission.  As we build community we must be making disciples, that is after all, our commission from Jesus himself.  The two, however, community and discipleship, inform one another; they go together.

If you are familiar with Jeff Venderstelt and Soma, or of Neil Cole, then you will recognize some similarities with their ideas.  These are not new observations, however, some appearing in an article first published 1941 by Dr. W. Maxfield Garrott entitled How Jesus Trained Leaders.  The point being that the methods trace back to Jesus, and we can seek to incorporate them, to model our discipleship, after his.

As we learn about doing discipleship in community here are three basics ideas we have found helpful:

1)  Community with God

This might seem obvious, but it cannot be overlooked.  Consider how often Jesus withdrew by Himself to spend time in direct communion with the Father.   Call it a "Quiet Time," "Personal Devotion Time" or whatever, learning to take time alone to read scripture and pray is essential to discipleship.  And it does not have to be rocket science.  I love the acronym my colleague Paul Johnson shares on the Disciple Maker App (look for it in the App Store under Disciple Maker Stages) that he created and curates.  He offers S.O.A.P as a guide for devotional times and journaling: S-scripture, O-observation (what is the nugget of truth, or what jumps out to you), A-application (what do you need to do to make this real in your life) P-pray (use the scripture and you application as a basis for your prayer time).  Simple.  Straight forward.  I love it.

2) Community with Two or Three

Though Jesus spent much time with the twelve, there was even a smaller group with whom He shared more personal and private moments.  Consider the Transfiguration or the Garden of Gethsemane.  In each case it is Peter, James and John that accompany Jesus.  With two or three, confidentiality and accountability can be strong and there are practical considerations of flexibility for scheduling etc.  Relationally, it is far more likely to really get to know someone, to encourage and challenge each other in a smaller context.

3)  Community with 12

It is important to note that when calling His first disciples, Jesus called twelve and put them in community.  It is this group with whom He did the bulk of organized training while also living everyday life together for three years.  It was my friend Mike Hampton who first helped me see the diversity within this group.  By today's standards, and especially from a modern Western context, the group does not seem diverse at all, but when one considers that zealots and tax collectors were sharing meals together, one can only imagine how awkward those first dinners must have been!  This size of group is large enough for diversity but still small enough for intimacy and deeper relationships through which to live out together the things that are learned.  Below is a short video in which Ed Stetzer and Eric Geiger share some thoughts on why groups matter.

Why Groups Matter

Whether, like for us within The Hamilton Fellowships, these groups are the larger church context, or you are a part of a much larger congregation, time in a group of about 10-20 is a very special and important investment. 

So there you have it, 3 Basics of Community Discipleship.  Who are some people in your life that you could start to gather with?

3 Keys to Build Community

There is a lot of talk and discussion about creating community these days.  I have come to appreciate Mike Breen and the folks at 3DM and there discussion of "oikos"-Family.  Similarly, I recently heard Jeff Vanderstelt of Soma ask if, when the world thought about the church, was the first metaphore that came to mind, Family.  Building community is a core principle of what we, at The Hamilton Fellowships do as well and so we were recently reflecting on what it means for our Fellowships, our Community, to be family.  After working through this idea together, here are three keys to build community family, that I came away with:

1) Eat Together
I recently received a beautiful birthday card from a group of Chinese students who have been connecting with one of our Fellowships and in it they thanked me for a number of different opportunities for community that they have experienced while hanging out with us.  In particular, they thanked us for all the different foods that they have been able to try.  I laughed.  We share a meal each week as we gather with our Fellowship, but we try to keep it fairly simple.  The point is the time together, sharing and conversations- the deep fellowship- that happens over food.  For international students I suppose it is a bit exotic, (to be honest my favourite times are when they bring the food!), but the relationships that are formed over a meal together probably contributes more than the food to their positive experiences.  Lets face it, families eat together and so if we want to be family then we need to do the same.  Keep it simple, do it potluck and have everyone help with the dishes.  It is well worth the effort.

2)  Play Together
One key difference between co-workers and family is that family are the ones that you go home to and plan your weekends or vacation.  When it comes time to play, we often play with family.  An hour or two together at an organized engagement is great, but not really enough to say that we are family.  When people are choosing to spend their down time together, then maybe we can say that we are family.  We try to create some opportunities for people to hang out together, sometimes in pace of a Fellowship, and often outside of our regular weekly meetings.  It can be as simple as a board game night where we open our home and anyone who is free brings a snack and a friend.  Even more important, however, are the times when one family is going to do something and casually invites another family or individual to join them.  These unstructured, organic connections say a lot about family.

3)  Teach One Another
Think about how much you learned, both formally and informally, from your mom or dad, grandparents or maybe a special aunt or uncle.   There is an organic discipleship that happens in family as we learn to speak, ride a bike or to cook the famous family recipe.  There are natural mentor relationships that can happen within family.  Organic and Natural, however, still require intentionality.  How are we mentoring and teaching others in our "family."  As a parent, I love the idea of my children learning by watching, engaging and spending time with other mature adults who care for them. 

How can you limit this to just three?!?  I want to add praying together (if we are talking specifically spiritual communities), and working together (Alan Hirsh has great thoughts about "Communitas" in Forgotten Ways) BUT I will hold myself back and open it up to you.  These are three keys that we identified, what others would you add to the list?

Of Subways and Sub Zeros

I currently sit in a train car returning to Hamilton from The Big Smoke, Toronto, and it has dawned on me that last month I was riding subways in both Los Angeles and New Tork City.  They were quick, short trips to help family members, but none the less that is still pretty cool!  

As we enter March, I am back here in Canada and we are experiencing one of the coldest weeks on record.  Isn't spring coming?!?  Sitting on the train this morning I realize that although this year is the coldest I can remember, for the last three years the beginning of March has greeted  us with its own kind of coldness. Two years ago my Grandmother passed away and the very next day my oldest son ended up in hospital.  The following year my son was missing when March arrived, and this year we enter March with my father in hospital.  March has been particularily dark these past few years.  Even so, there are still great moments of light and joy and it is especially important in times like these to mark them. 

My dad came through what was a very large, intrusive and challenging surgery with flying colours.  Although the recovery will be trying and lengthy, he has done amazingly well thus far and shows every indication that he should make a full return to health.  

Our Fellowship @ Locke has welcomed a few new people and I am enjoying meeting with a number of them for further discipleship.  We are currently leading the Fellowship through an annual look at our vision verse and refocusing on (or learning for the first time), our core principles.

I am also excited for our Fellowship @ Fifty in Stoney Creek as I have been working with a key leader to develop and introduce a more intentional mission strategy.  I am looking forward to Michael leading our group through the initial stages this week.  

So March has been a bit of a let down these past few years.  This year in particular it is uncomfortably freezing.  None the less, there are bright spots and moments to celebrate.  Perhaps spring is on the way, maybe just around the corner at the next subway stop.