Pots, Pans & Prayer

Have you every had to pray in front of a group and either just not wanted to, or thought long and hard about how you were to pray. I must confess that there are some times that I have tried to turn a prayer into a production, to pray in a way that others think "wow he is a really good Pray-er" or "wow, he must be close to God, listen to how he prays." Which in hind site seems really stupid. No I mean really really stupid.
I posted this video because I think our prayers are a lot like that, a bunch of banging noises. Anyone that doesn't know and love my kids were probably cringing after the first couple of hits (if not the first.) To me it was beautiful, it was one of the best symphony's I have ever heard. Why? because I wasn't listening to the instruments- I was listening to their hearts. They would say daddy daddy listen. I would try to leave the room and they would say "daddy come back" over and over and over. After playing a line they would stop and look up at me waiting for my approval, as I clapped and cheered their smile got even wider than when they were bashing their drums.
God is not impressed by our eloquence or articulation of prayers, in fact he already knows what we are going to say before we even speak a word. What he does love is when we are focused on him and look for his attention and affirmation in our prayers. If you ever get a chance to pray in public, I want to challenge you to freak people out and just talk to him like he was a friend who was standing beside you. Regardless of how bad we bungle our words and trip all over ourselves, God enjoys the symphony of an honest prayer. So take God up at his word (the book of Hebrews) when he says "let us approach the throne of grace with confidence." I am going to take a serious look at my prayer life especially how I pray in public.

Hows this for a workout?

They say Laughter is the best medicine, I guess that means it may be the best exercise as well. If you can use a good laugh today, here you go...

glumbert - Laughing Ab Workout

Interruptions

It seems like almost all the people I have conversations with lately are having major interruptions in life. Relationship struggles, financial issues, annoying people, IRS, jury duty... the list goes on. I am a pretty mellow guy and it takes a lot to get me agitated or stressed, but it seems like lately things are going at such a fast pace and little hiccup in life brings life to a screeching halt. I am starting to think that maybe a new look at interruptions in necessary. Instead of viewing them as obstacles that need to overcome, maybe their are moments allowed by God trying to get our attention. I genuinely don't believe that God has a demented desire to see us in pain, what I do know about Him through his word is that he is passionately in love with desires our attention.

I have been taking some time recently to consciously change my perspective, and as corny as it may sound it works. I am not going to say I have it figured out and that life comes easily... because it doesn't. But the times when I stop in the midst of a interruption and let myself recognize God's presence- I sense a definite change in my attitude (as well as my blood pressure)
Right now I dont have any tradgedies or excruciating circumstances in life, but I do have a lot of little things that tend to add up... changing my persepective on these (when I do it) takes an ubelieveable amount of stress of my life and genuinely makes me a more pleasant person. I think I and a whole lot of people need to turn in our resignation for CEO of the Universe and start appreciating the opportunites to appreciate Gods Love and presence.

Article by Prodigal John

I read this article, it inspired me and hits the heart of what I have been writing about and learning lately. Instead of writing about it, I will just share it. Here goes...

"I recently read an interview with late night television legend David Letterman in Rolling Stone. The entire piece was fascinating, but one section in which Letterman described his relationship with Johnny Carson stood out to me:

"You know, there are people in everyone's life who you can't believe you have a relationship with, and you are truly in awe of them, because they are so iconic and so influential that you're just kind of pretending. You know if you behave the way you really behave, they would recognize that you're a complete dope and they would never have anything to do with you ever again. That was kind of the way I felt about Johnny. I was so worried that I would say something idiotic and he would just pull me out of his Rolodex. … I never got out from under the feeling that he and I really could be friends because I idolized him and I knew by any measure I would always fall short."

I thought that was interesting because in many ways, those sentences captured how I sometimes treat my relationship with God. Here, using excerpts from above, is what I mean:

1. "there are people in everyone's life who you can't believe you have a relationship with"
When people say that Christianity is weird, they're right. Faith is weird. The idea of having a personal relationship with the creator of the universe is crazy. That's a big, wild thing if you think about it and sometimes when I do, I can't believe I have a relationship with God. But I do and that's what God wants. A relationship, not a ritual or a reward system.

2. "you are truly in awe of them"
I am. I was reminded of this recently when I was driving up interstate 75 to Nashville. There's this one ridiculous moment where you cross this river and the mountains are looming over you reminding you how small your big problems really are and the sun was blazing big and bright in a sky I didn't create and I was in awe. My hope is that someday it won't take a mountain vista to spark my sense of awe for God but that I will see that more in the people I know and the places I spend my days. But I'm cool with starting with a mountain and working toward seeing the beauty of a cubicle wall.

3. "you're just kind of pretending"
This is me in college. This is me going through the motions of a relationship. This is me trying to do what I think good Christians are supposed to do. This is me church hopping and bouncing between friendships as I pretend to be deeper than I really am, more connected to God than I really am and happier than I really am.

4. "You know if you behave the way you really behave, they would recognize that you're a complete dope"
Have you ever dressed up for God? We talked about doing that in college on Sundays when you wanted people to think you had gone to church, but have you ever done that for God? Dressed up some issue? Dressed up some desire that you think is wrong or not true or too big for him to handle or too small for him to care about? The key word in that sentence above is "recognize." At times, I am equally terrified of being recognized and never being recognized. That if God knew who I really was he wouldn’t love me and if no one knows who I am then I might as well be invisible. But he recognizes me. He created me. He knows me inside and out, the parts that are ugly and the parts that are beautiful and the parts I don’t even know exist yet. And he doesn't see a dope. He sees a son.

5. "they would never have anything to do with you ever again"
I think that when Christ died, the question "again?" died too. Although I fall repeatedly and feel shame at my weaknesses, God will never see that and reject me by saying, "Again? Again? Again?" I think that when Christ rose, the statement "again!" did too. How many times will God take me back when I fall? "Again! Again! Again!"

6. "I was so worried that I would say something idiotic"
Ever edit yourself for God? Ever spend your entire day talking one way and then talk with a completely different vocabulary when you pray? Why do we do that? Is it reverence? Are we afraid to say something idiotic? I am. And in that fear I often end up babbling and ruining one of the most beautiful parts of prayer, listening.

7. "I knew by any measure I would always fall short"
This is not a possibility when it comes to me and God. This is a promise. I will fall short. I could work as hard as I want to for the rest of my life, say all the prayers one mouth can physically speak and do as much charity as one pair of hands can accomplish. And it would still fall solar systems short of being worthy of God. Thank God he sent Jesus.

Is comparing God to Johnny Carson a great analogy or metaphor? Probably not but on some level every metaphor for God is broken. He's God. He's bigger and wilder and more loving than we can even fathom. I've said before that the idea of capturing God on a piece of paper is like trying to capture the might of a hurricane with crayons. But sometimes, when you read something interesting in a magazine, you have to at least try to scribble."

A Child like Faith

Megan Hendrickson sent this email to me to today.

"Last night, Jonathan and I were in the studio at our house and the window was open. We could hear two younger boys walking by and talking. They were probably about 8 or 9 years old. And all of a sudden I heard “God was either born on Christmas Eve or Thanksgiving…” it was THE CUTEST thing I have ever witnessed. I started crying because of the innocence of these two boys. They had no clue but clearly were thinking about God. It was the greatest. I had to share!"

thanks Megan

Mondays

Mondays are an interesting day, some people hate them because of being off for the weekend. For me it is actually a day right during the middle of my busy time. I have responsibilities on Sundays and I have Tuesday nights to prepare for. So technically Wednesday is my Monday, oh wait maybe its my Saturday... Mondays are full for me, I have staff meetings in the afternoon, and a creative planning meeting later in the evening. I am a person who works much better with structure in place, the interesting thing is that I am currently working in a compete lack thereof. So my thought and goal for this week is to begin to organize my life and get some structure.

so where shall I start? Clean my office? Map out my week? Get my Blackberry up to date, prioritize my to do list... The problem I run against is that I have become pretty organized in my own un-organization. So I am going to have to go against some pretty dug-in habits, but I know that if I am going to really get a grip on this I am going to have a give myself a shock to the system.

leaving a place where you are comfortable is never an easy thing to do, even if you know the results are better. One of the reasons that I am really wanting to make this work is that I often feel like I have allowed my relationship with Christ to drift into a comfortable manageable... dare I say... religious obligation. That is a place I definitely don't want to be, even if it is comfortable.
So here goes...
I think I am going to start by priortizing my to do list... then clean... then.....

Going to Church? Part 2

So I went to church... the funny thing was the speaker spoke exactly about what I wrote about in my blog. That church gathering is to be a place to go to celebrate what God has done through the week as a whole. No Legalism, no guilt, no shame... great message. I left as soon as the message was over to make sure my wife had plenty of time to take a nap before she had to go to work. No guilt.
I am excited about this Journey God is taking me on. The Speaker this morning was Wayne Jacobsen one of the publishers of "The Shack." One of the greatest points he made is that Jesus came not to establish the religion of Christianity- but to establish a relationship with you and I. Cool stuff.
Glad I went!