"Prayer is not an occasional activity; it is a lifestyle." Paul tells us to "pray without ceasing" (I Thessalonians 5:17). This can be mistaken for a pious activity best left for the spiritual elite. But he was not addressing a handful of all-stars in an esoteric class. He was addressing a young, Gentile church in Roman Macedonia; not the clergy or the monastery. Prayer is an act of faith. In prayer, we use words to entrust every moment and circumstance to a God who has the ability to hear and to respond. Obligatory mealtime and bedtime prayers are a start, but not the fulness.
If we believe in this God, when should we not pray? How shall we sprinkle every hour with such words of trust? Mumbled or screamed, whispered or cried, thought or muttered. Intersperse the day's work with conversation that calls upon the Lord who holds every day. Come, O Lord. Break into the mundane routines of my day. Let my work not be in vain, but make it your work. In Jesus' name. Amen.
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It's a bit lengthy, but an article I wrote was just published in Missio Apostolica, the journal put out by the Lutheran Society for Missiology. Here's the new May 2013 edition. The whole issue is on reaching the Millennial generation.
A single word has been haunting my pastoral work for a few years. I've devoted considerable time and attention to it, but I think I'll be chewing on this one for years to come, if not the rest of my life. It's a simple word and I believe that it holds tremendous importance for the future of the church. It's an old word, and we're trying to reclaim in in my congregation. The word is sent.
Last month, I received a call to be University Pastor at Concordia University in St. Paul, MN. In the usual order of our church body, a call requires prayerful deliberation. About a week ago I declined the call to Concordia after much prayerful deliberation. I remain in my current call at Christ Memorial and Reliant in St. Louis.
It was a challenging period of prayer, conversation, and self-reflection. The call to Concordia was a compelling one. President Tom Ries brings a strong, missional leadership to CSP. After getting to know him a bit, he is exactly the right man to lead a small, private university into the muddied future of higher education. It would have been invigorating to work with him as well as a phenomenal faculty and staff. With a remarkably diverse student body (The Twin Cities are a gateway city for immigration), this urban university is an exciting place to do ministry. There were a few factors that kept me in St. Louis. The most compelling was the people that I'm called to. My congregation is not the largest or the flashiest, the hippest or the trendiest. But we have a people who love Jesus and desire to be on his mission. I really believe we have a unique Christian community poised for more and more dynamic work in the world. We are aligned to do some significant ministry in a challenging post-Christian context. I thank God for this. More and more, I'm understanding what it means to be devoted to a people and a place. I used to admire the resumes of pastors who had served in numerous congregations all over the country. Now I've come to realize that may not be healthy. I felt like I began to hit my stride at five years. So what will another five do? Or ten? I can't predict how long I will pastor in this place, but for now God has told me. It is this and no other. "Manage by walking around." This is an old business adage on the importance of relational presence in leadership. An employer can't lead his business without walking amongst his people. In a broader sense, it's a reminder that we can't fulfill our God-given responsibilities and be distant from the people we are responsible for. A father can't father when he's at work 80 hours a week. A teacher can't be effective if he or she lectures but never listens. A mentor can't influence a protege from a laptop. A pastor can't lead a congregation from behind the desk. And as we know, God did not rescue the world from the press box of heaven, distant from all the strife below. Jesus, in a sense, managed by walking around.
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