A year ago today (October 26) I had the privilege of preaching in the Bethel Baptist Church of Chisinau, Moldova. I spent some time looking at the pictures I took and watched a little video clip of my preaching in this historic Baptist Church with my translator. I will always be grateful for that moving experience.
For those who do not know, Moldova is a small country located next to Romania. An organization called the Future Leadership Foundation asked me to be a part of a three person team to provide a training retreat for leaders of the Moldovan Baptist Union. It was a tremendous experience and I appreciate the work of the Future Leadership Foundation as they partner with Christian leaders in former Soviet Union countries to encourage those leaders in their growth and service. I was honored and humbled by the experience – I don’t know how much those leaders were encouraged by me, but I know I was by them.
One of the leaders in Moldova is named Peter. The church I pastor, First Baptist Church of Rolla, Missouri, not only paid my way but helped fund the retreat for Peter. We have kept up with each other from time to time through email, and recently I received an email from Peter stating he was in the United States in a place called Georgia, and he wondered if Rolla was close enough to drive over to see him. I wish it was – when Peter writes about God’s work in the church he pastors, I am in awe. The challenges are great, the country’s opposition fierce, and yet Peter and his church family remain focused on sharing Jesus with all they meet. I realize how complicated things can get for me at times, how comfortable and convenient things are for American Christians, and how easy it is for American churches to lose sight of what really matters. Peter’s emails always help me regain my focus.
Rolla is a long way from the state of Georgia, and even farther from the country of Moldova. But Peter and I always promise each other we will do something that the distance can not stop – we promise to pray for each other. God’s unlimited reach, that is how I once heard prayer defined – I am so glad God is not hindered by the distance.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
Tent of Meeting
We have been studying the book of Exodus on Wednesday nights, and we spent last Wednesday talking about Moses’ intercession for the rebellious children of Israel in Exodus 32 and 33. His prayer was filled with boldness and drenched with intimacy. He spoke His heart to God, and God listened. Three times Moses prayed – three times God responded in a wonderful way.
Of course, all of us would like to be able to pray prayers of intercession like Moses did. We often miss the fact that Moses’ intercession put God’s people even before himself. At one point he ties his own fate with that of the people – God, if You are going to blot their names out, blot mine as well (Exodus 32:31). Such selfless, sacrificial praying was effective as Moses interceded for God’s people.
In our study I asked those present why Moses was so effective in praying. Many things were offered – his honesty, his self-sacrifice, his willingness to persevere. I focused on a brief interlude between the second and third intercessions, found in Exodus 33:7-11. I see this as a parenthetical section, helping us to understand that the strength of Moses’ intercession comes from his intimacy with God. The verses speak of a “tent of meeting” where Moses would go regularly to spend time with God. His habit was so well known that the Hebrew people would see him go to the tent and they would worship at their own tents as the cloud representing God’s presence rested on the tent of meeting. Obviously Moses was able to be bold, authentic, intimate, and effective because of the time he spent with God in that tent.
I have thought a lot of the tent of meeting and have tried to figure out where mine needs to be. I recognize how easy it is to come to God with a list of requests but shortchange things when it comes to just being in God’s presence. Purposely and intentionally pushing away from everything else that gnaws at us or demands out attention can be difficult. Just spending time in God’s presence, praying His Word, listening and stilling oneself in His presence, can be a challenge. Even so, we all need a tent of meeting.
I suppose I have several places where my tent of meeting might be, but I find myself sitting on the floor in my office behind some short file cabinets near the preaching and pastoral care section of my library. If my secretary came in and saw me there, she probably would think I was just checking a book out, but God knows that this place seems to be a place I can still my mind and listen to His voice. Maybe there is some symbolism in it all – if I am to effectively proclaim God’s Word and minster/intercede for the people God has placed in my care, I need to spend time in the tent of meeting.
What about you – where is your tent of meeting?
Of course, all of us would like to be able to pray prayers of intercession like Moses did. We often miss the fact that Moses’ intercession put God’s people even before himself. At one point he ties his own fate with that of the people – God, if You are going to blot their names out, blot mine as well (Exodus 32:31). Such selfless, sacrificial praying was effective as Moses interceded for God’s people.
In our study I asked those present why Moses was so effective in praying. Many things were offered – his honesty, his self-sacrifice, his willingness to persevere. I focused on a brief interlude between the second and third intercessions, found in Exodus 33:7-11. I see this as a parenthetical section, helping us to understand that the strength of Moses’ intercession comes from his intimacy with God. The verses speak of a “tent of meeting” where Moses would go regularly to spend time with God. His habit was so well known that the Hebrew people would see him go to the tent and they would worship at their own tents as the cloud representing God’s presence rested on the tent of meeting. Obviously Moses was able to be bold, authentic, intimate, and effective because of the time he spent with God in that tent.
I have thought a lot of the tent of meeting and have tried to figure out where mine needs to be. I recognize how easy it is to come to God with a list of requests but shortchange things when it comes to just being in God’s presence. Purposely and intentionally pushing away from everything else that gnaws at us or demands out attention can be difficult. Just spending time in God’s presence, praying His Word, listening and stilling oneself in His presence, can be a challenge. Even so, we all need a tent of meeting.
I suppose I have several places where my tent of meeting might be, but I find myself sitting on the floor in my office behind some short file cabinets near the preaching and pastoral care section of my library. If my secretary came in and saw me there, she probably would think I was just checking a book out, but God knows that this place seems to be a place I can still my mind and listen to His voice. Maybe there is some symbolism in it all – if I am to effectively proclaim God’s Word and minster/intercede for the people God has placed in my care, I need to spend time in the tent of meeting.
What about you – where is your tent of meeting?
Monday, October 12, 2009
Just Quotes
My wife and I flew out to Phoenix this past week to visit our daughter and son-in-law. We had a great time eating ourselves into oblivion, walking their dog Sydney, watching movies, playing cards and the Wii, and even climbing a mountain (it was an easy trail, no big deal). On the trip out and back I did a little reading – John Ortberg’s book, Love Beyond Reason, and Dave Gibbons’ book, The Monkey and the Fish. Ortberg’s book is warm and encouraging, and Gibbons’ book is challenging – let me share a few quotes from each.
From Ortberg –
“As Lewis Smedes put it, it may be a very bad thing that I needed God to die for me, but it is a wonderful thing that God thinks I’m worth dying for.”
“Love notices. Love listens. Love remembers.”
“The secret is to be so filled with the life of Jesus that in touching the world, instead of its infecting us, we infect it.”
“If there is one way that human beings consistently underestimate God’s love, it is perhaps in his loving longing to forgive.”
“The church is a place for people who need do-overs. That is what God does.”
From Gibbons –
“Jesus is the trickiest part of the Christian faith to understand and the most difficult part for churches to keep alive.”
“You can be a church and lose your perspective on what activities are truly valuable.”
“The issue is not just sharing our message but becoming the message... And since our message is Jesus’ message – the extravagant love of God for a needy world – the stakes could not be higher.”
In reaction to a church member’s acknowledgment that he had gone into enormous debt to get things, having a picture of a BMW on his desk that he wanted to buy – “I asked myself, ‘What is my BMW? What picture have I placed on my desk? What really motivates me to do the things I do?’”
Just quotes... but inasmuch as they continue to be on my mind, maybe they are far more.
From Ortberg –
“As Lewis Smedes put it, it may be a very bad thing that I needed God to die for me, but it is a wonderful thing that God thinks I’m worth dying for.”
“Love notices. Love listens. Love remembers.”
“The secret is to be so filled with the life of Jesus that in touching the world, instead of its infecting us, we infect it.”
“If there is one way that human beings consistently underestimate God’s love, it is perhaps in his loving longing to forgive.”
“The church is a place for people who need do-overs. That is what God does.”
From Gibbons –
“Jesus is the trickiest part of the Christian faith to understand and the most difficult part for churches to keep alive.”
“You can be a church and lose your perspective on what activities are truly valuable.”
“The issue is not just sharing our message but becoming the message... And since our message is Jesus’ message – the extravagant love of God for a needy world – the stakes could not be higher.”
In reaction to a church member’s acknowledgment that he had gone into enormous debt to get things, having a picture of a BMW on his desk that he wanted to buy – “I asked myself, ‘What is my BMW? What picture have I placed on my desk? What really motivates me to do the things I do?’”
Just quotes... but inasmuch as they continue to be on my mind, maybe they are far more.
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