Prayers of John Baillie

Up until last week I had never heard of John Baillie. But last Sunday I came across examples his writings in two different sources, and have been very blessed by his written prayers. It's easy for our prayers to be limited to a quick saying of grace at dinner or maybe asking Him for our desired outcome in a particular circumstance. I appreciate how this prayer from Baillie's A Diary of Private Prayer calls to mind God's holiness and sovereignty, and reminds us of who he created us to be. The requests in this prayer center on desiring His will to be done in all things in our life. What a great prayer to start your day with and continue meditating on.

Fourth Morning: "Your Waiting Presence"

Almighty and eternal God,

You are hidden from my sight:

You are beyond the understanding of my mind:

Your thoughts are not my thoughts:

Your ways are past finding out.

Yet you have breathed Your Spirit into my life:

Yet You have formed my mind to seek You:

Yet You have inclined me heart to love You:

Yet You have made me restless for the rest that is in You:

Yet You have planted within me a hunger and thirst that make me dissatisfied with all the joys of earth.

O You who alone know what lies before me this day,

grant that in every hour of it I may stay close to You.

Let me be in the world, yet not of it. Let me use this world without abusing it.

If I buy, let me be as though possessed not.

If I have nothing, let me be as though possessing all things.

Let me today embark on no undertaking that is not in line with Your will for my life,

nor shrink from any sacrifice which Your will may demand.

Suggest, direct, control every movement of my mind;

for my Lord Christ's sake. Amen.

Persecuted Church Prayer Update

Christ's Church has been joining believers around the world in praying for two imprisoned Iranian Christians, Maryam and Marzieh. The Persecuted Church Weblog recently posted this update.

"There has been a significant development in the case of Maryam and Marzieh who were arrested in Tehran on 5th March and have been detained since then. Recall that they appeared before the Revolutionary Court on 10th August and were ordered to recant their faith in Christ. Both declared that they would not deny their faith.

On Wednesday 7th October they were unexpectedly taken back to the Revolutionary Court, where a different judge was presiding. Three charges were brought against them, relating to (a) anti-state activity, (b) propagation of Christianity, and (c) apostasy, i.e. leaving Islam. The judge acquitted them of the charge of anti-state activity. They and their lawyer are delighted about this, particularly as such acquittals are rare in Iran. Because this charge has been dropped, their case will now be transferred to a general court where the other charges will be considered."

For more details, click here.

Iranian Christians ask that we continue to pray that:

a. Maryam and Marzieh will continue to know the Lord's presence and comfort each day

b. They will stand firm in their faith as they face continuing pressure to recant

c. They will be the presence of Jesus to those around them in Evin jail, near Tehran

d. The two remaining charges will be dropped

e. They will be released soon

f. All officials involved will act mercifully, justly and compassionately, and will learn about and be drawn to Jesus' love for them

g. The Iranian government will stop automatically regarding Christians as being anti-government and therefore a threat

Communion Song - Rememberance

Like many worship leaders I'm always on the lookout for good worship songs. While checking out Matt Maher's site (writer of "Your Grace is Enough"), I discovered that he and Matt Redman had written a communion song together called "Remembrance." What's interesting about this collaboration is that Matt Maher is Roman Catholic and Matt Redman is Protestant (as far as I know). Communion is one of those big fighting points between Catholics and Protestants, so it is exciting to see an act of unity in the body of Christ through this songwriting effort.

Thanks to the two different perspectives of the writers, I think this song stays away from false teachings in Roman Catholicism regarding the Eucharist, but also fills in many gaps that Protestant communion tends to have. As one reviewer said, “The song puts quite a bit of meaning behind a service at church that many often disregard.” Take a listen to this and then I’ll share just a brief analysis of what I appreciate about this song's content.

Verse 1 marvels in the mystery of God's invitation to commune with Him. It doesn't say that the bread and wine literally become Jesus' body, but does assert that the ordinary elements become Holy, physical elements set apart for a spiritual purpose.

The pre-chorus reminds us that it is God's mercy that invites us to His table, apart from that we couldn't come (don't we need that humbling reminder sometimes?). It also recognizes that communion is part of how God's grace nurtures/grows our faith.

The chorus makes a case for how remembrance fuels worship. I take the use of the word "communion" in this section to mean that worship through the Lord's Supper leads to a shared experience not only with other believers, but with God Himself.

The bridge quotes from the Roman Catholic Memorial Acclamation, which reminds us not only of Christ's death and resurrection, but of what they accomplished. It's easy to get hung up on the death part and not "remember" the resurrection that followed. Like Paul said, without the resurrection, our faith is futile, so I'm thankful for the inclusion of this acclamation to remind us of the resurrection and to anticipate Christ's coming again.

What are your thoughts on this song?

"Away With Your Noisy Hymns of Praise!"

Last week the Lord brought me to the book of Amos, and I've been mulling on a passage in chapter 5 ever since.

“I hate all your show and pretense—

the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies.
I will not accept your burnt offerings and grain offerings.
I won’t even notice all your choice peace offerings.
Away with your noisy hymns of praise!
I will not listen to the music of your harps.
Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice,
an endless river of righteous living..."

Amos 5:21-24 (NLT)

God gave Israel gave specific commands for how to worship Him, including sacrifices and festivals. The psalms clearly command us to sing to Lord. So why didn't God want to hear Israel sing songs of praise to Him? Because of what the rest of their lives looked like. The one true God of the universe had personally taught them how to live righteously, and yet they still chose to follow the ways of the wicked nations around them. Instead of being set apart for God in all aspects of their lives, the majority of Israel were worshiping idols, getting drunk regularly, committing sexual immoral acts, oppressing the poor, and were full of pride (just to name a few). Without righteous living, the songs of praise and other religious offerings were disgusting to God. I think we've probably heard messages like this before, our lives need to be consistent with the songs we sing, with the faith we confess.

But what about Justice? God's definition of justice isn't simply about legal matters, it has consistently been about caring for those in need. I think about passages like Isaiah 58 where God says that the fast he is looking for is that His people would feed the hungry, clothe the naked, help those who are oppressed. In this passage from Amos God says, "I won't notice your peace offerings." Peace offerings are associated with thanksgiving. We think it's important to give thanks to God for all we've been blessed with. We hear many famous people do that at awards shows. But in this passage it's as if God is saying He doesn't care that you give thanks for all the things He's blessed you with, because you're not using them to do acts of justice. Put what you're thankful for to good use, and then He'll receive your thanksgiving.

Shane and Shane's most recent tour was called the Turn Down the Music Tour. It seems they had this concept of worship and justice in mind when they came up with that name. Consider the story shared in this video.

May we live righteously and justly every day of our lives; not out of guilt or because we're trying to earn God's approval, but because we love God, and we don't want our worship to be fake or just a bunch of noise to Him.

An Evening of Eschatology

It's rare for me to interact with other Christians and not occasionally hear the phrase "End Times" used in conversation. My frustration is that I don't think a lot of people really know what the Book of Revelation really says, and even if they have read it, they don't understand the context or genre of the writing. By the way, I don't claim to be an expert myself. People's "end times" theology is often times based more on things like the Left Behind series than on what Revelation actually says. So in light of my frustration on this matter, I wanted to share this video of "An Evening of Eschatology." John Piper is the moderator between three men representing the three common views of the "millennium" referenced in Revelation 20. It's two hours long so you may not have time to watch it all, but I found it very helpful for understanding the different biblical views of the "End Times." Not mention, how great is it to see believers with differing opinions come together and dialogue? I hope to see more of these kinds of events happen.

I appreciated a couple of opening and closing points made in this. One was that Christians often think that after we die, heaven is our final resting place; the resurrection and the new earth isn't a part of their hope or understanding. Is that true for you at all? Then in closing, the bottom line that all three speakers come to is that Christ's Kingdom will not fully manifest itself on earth by any amount of force or protest. Unfortunately throughout history we have often forgotten this and tried to Christianize the world in our own strength, primarily with military and political methods. Our job as the church is to live by the power of the Holy Spirit, embodying the gospel and bringing it to the ends of the earth. God's power and perfect timing in Christ's return will take care of the rest.

Be more quiet now and wait for a voice to say...

Have you ever been asked the question, "How does God speak to you?" I can only identify one consistent way in my own experience that provides an answer to that question. He impresses something upon your heart, and it doesn't go away. It keeps coming up in your thoughts, and then usually starts showing up in the things you read, in the conversations you have, or the opportunities that start coming your way. Just when the idea starts to fade, and you start wondering if God was really speaking, something stirs it up again. Anyone else ever have this happen?

So along those lines, I've felt like God has been telling me to be intentional about silence and solitude. Several months ago, I would occasionally feel like I shouldn't turn the CD player on while driving in the car (very rare for me). Then I started becoming more aware of the noise in my thoughts. Then I read Prayer and Temperament, and while trying some of the exercises I became even more aware of how noisy my mind was while praying. For the past few months now, I've been slowly working through a book called Devotional Classics. Early on there was a chapter that specifically challenged the reader to practice silence and solitude daily. I tried for a few days, but it didn't last long. This has really hurt my pride, which is obviously good for me, but I never imagined that this discipline would be so hard for me.

I've continued reading through Devotional Classics over the last month, and of course, I've come upon another excerpt that challenges the reader to practice silence and solitude. The writer in this chapter, Henri Nouwen, gives a particularly helpful suggestion. He says,

"We do not take the spiritual life seriously if we do not set aside time to be with God and listen to Him...We may have to write it in black and white in our daily calendars so that nobody else can take away this period of time."

I don't think we can argue with that statement. Jesus Himself made it a point to regularly go off to be alone and listen to the voice of the Father. How much more then do we need that time, even if it means putting it in our calendars? Anyone else want to accept the silence and solitude challenge with me?