Prism

Wednesday brought with it the leadership meeting on prayer and vision. There is an energy about having hardcore Jesus-followers on the same page with God; that is a legitimate starting place. It put things in perspective before the next day which featured another installment of Man Time.

Theo and Boogey stormed in Thursday afternoon, Theo in tears. On his way to man time, an adult man had apparently punched him and stolen his bike just outside the church. Jesse and I were dreaming of street justice for just a moment, but level heads prevailed. We called the police, and then we went downstairs and talked about prayer. Too often do we speak highly of prayer yet exercise this privilege too little (even with the need screaming in our faces). I was surprised at how the guys responded because they generally fail to maintain their chaos during serious moments. For the first time ever during Man Time, you could hear a pin drop. Sam and Ja'juan stepped up to lead us in prayer even though they admitted to not being entirely sure how to do it.

"I want to be thankful this week, all of me experiencing genuine thankfulness." That was the prayer of my heart going into preaching a sermon the weekend before Thanksgiving. I suppose I should be thankful for the sermon illustration God granted me: the death of the Volkswagen. My car died after Man Time on Thursday, and I sat in the car for hours thinking of Jonah. It made the sermon for me, the interesting contrast that hit me like this: "Don't be blinded to a Nineveh-level work of God because of a Jonah-like point of view." The thoughts "No car, no house, no money" spin downward into a spiral of self-focus. Jonah was shackled into discontentment by what He wanted for Himself... And he would never get it.

Self is the biggest obstacle to thankfulness, but the joy of the Lord is my stronghold today. That kind of statement has to be something more than Church language. Faithful prayer is a prism through which we see things God's way.

Nehemiah 8:10

“Then he said to them, ‘Go and eat what is rich, drink what is sweet, and send portions to those who have nothing prepared, since today is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, because the joy of the Lord is your stronghold.’”