CQ

Over the past eight weeks I have felt convicted to be more intentional about prayer. God has recently captured my heart and given me a deeper love and burden for people, which compels me to drop to my knees. In his book Celebration of Discipline, Richard Foster says, “The inner sense (that comes from Christ) of compassion is one of the clearest indications from the Lord that this is a prayer project for you (p. 40, 1998).”  There seems to be a link between compassion for others and an aspiration to pray.

After my recent experience in Thailand I’ve become passionate about praying for the oppressed and those who minister to them. I am also determined to pray that our students are being equipped to become a generation of servant leaders. This means they are not only prepared well educationally and biblically, but also with a deep calling to live their life sacrificially for Christ. I believe they could be the hands and feet that change the world for Christ. That is worth praying for!

John 12: 24-26

24 I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

I feel so blessed to work in a learning community that encourages and even requires us to continuously learn more about disciplines like prayer, service, and dying to self. The disciples of Christ expressed their desire to learn about prayer when they said to Jesus, “Lord teach us to pray.” (Luke 11:1).  I still have a lot to learn.

Foster says, “I determine to learn to pray so that my experience conforms to the words of Jesus rather than try to make his words conform to my impoverished experience.” (Celebration of Discipline, p37, 1998).  Jesus says in John 15:7, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you.” I think this scripture implies that we will know the right things to ask for because we know and are known by Christ intimately. Since I have started praying more consistently, some amazing things have been happening. God has been answering my prayers.

Last Saturday evening was the culmination of banquet week at Westside.  It was a celebration of our school community, highlighting the students that were selected by their peers to be on the banquet court. The most encouraging point for me on Saturday evening was the announcement of the court. As each court member entered the room, thoughts they had put on paper were read aloud for all of us to hear.  Every student on the court expressed to their peers and teachers their unique and authentic desire to serve Christ with their lives.  God is answering prayer!

Recently Marta and I have been praying about her level of participation in the Thailand trip this summer. We are both passionate about the trip and all that it represents, and she would be there in a heartbeat if we didn’t have two young children. Last week we stayed up late one night weighing the pros and cons. On one hand it would be hard for our kids to be away from both of their parents for such a long time, but on the other, they (especially our five year old) could learn a heart level lesson by sharing their parents for twelve days with children who don’t have parents. Marta was leaning toward not going but felt she needed to keep praying because she hadn’t heard clearly from the Lord yet. We brought up the subject with our daughter, telling her that we were in the process of praying about it, and not to our surprise, she told us she didn’t want Marta to go.

Two days later our daughter asked Marta, “Have you decided to go to Thailand?”  Marta replied, “No, Daddy and I are still asking God if He wants me to go?”
“I don’t want you to pray.”
“Why not?”
“I know what Jesus would say.”
“Oh really?”
“He would want you to go.”
“Why do you think that?”
“I don’t know, I just know that’s what He would want.”

Two hours later our daughter asked in a very soft voice, “Are you going?”
Marta asked, “To Thailand?  We’re still praying about it.”  With a sad look on her face our daughter said what sounded like, “I think you should go.”  Marta was not sure she’d heard her correctly so she asked, “Did you say you think I should go?”  Our daughter nodded affirmatively.  Putting together the sad face and the response, Marta said, “You think I should go even though you know you’ll miss me and that will make you feel sad?”  She nodded again.

Another prayer answered!  We were amazed that our little five year old was willing to show this type of sacrificial love.  Thank you, Lord, for speaking to us through a child. This isn’t the first time, nor will it be the last. Needless to say, we are leaning the other way now.

PSALM 8: 1-2

“1 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. 2 From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.”

Keep praying!

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This weekend Steve and I trekked up to Seattle to take part in an International Justice Mission Justice Advocate training program. Through a series of God orchestrated connections I was able to communicate to their Education Program Manager what Westside is planning on doing in Thailand, and she invited the two of us to be a part of the program.

I have been praying for humility for the past six weeks. God is so faithful to bring about that quality in me as I spent a weekend with passionate, humble, yet very gifted lawyers, Ivy League graduates, employees of think tanks, etc. It is inspiring to be around people with a tremendous passion coupled with a humble spirit.

One of the most confirming elements of the weekend was the presentation of scriptural support challenging Christians to act on behalf of the oppressed. Over the past year my eyes have been opened to see the importance of compassion, justice, humility, loving people, seeking truth and working to model my actions after Christ. This weekend my new revelation was primarily the issue of justice. (I will write more about this later)

It is like that experience when you have bought a new car and begin to see how many are on the road. It is not that the car didn’t exist before you purchased it, but you just never noticed. Now I see these issues in my Christian walk around every bend in the road. The following samples of scripture convict and compel me to seek justice, demonstrate compassion, and act on behalf of the orphans, widows, and the oppressed.

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Originally Written for the Westside Way on 12.05.05

I have recently been challenged to look at the word poverty through a new lens. Before the last few weeks I would not have categorized myself, or anyone I know, as being poor. This is because my definition was not deep enough. In our societal circles, poverty is easily hidden from sight. In fact I think I try to hide it from myself. Our environment actually encourages us to hide our poverty.

I have also recently read articles that challenge me to think about the underlying purpose of education. The purpose of education may be different depending
on the mission of any given learning institution, but one common underlying purpose of education is to eliminate poverty.

In three weeks, Steve and I will be in Thailand learning about some of the most heart wrenching problems that exist in our world. One of the roots of these problems is extreme poverty, which can lead to horrific sins committed against the most vulnerable and innocent. I anticipate that this type of physical and economic poverty will be easy to identify.

In our circles, another type of poverty also exists. This is the poverty of the heart. An example of this type of poverty became evident to me recently as I was reading a book by Gary Haugen that challenged me with this question: Why do we, as followers of Christ, not act when we have knowledge of the pain and poverty of others? (Matthew 25:40 “… I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”) Haugen’s response was that it is because of our own poverty of compassion, poverty of hope, and poverty of purpose. We do not have sufficient compassion to be passionate enough to act. We believe that the problems of this world are too big, so we never get started. We have not listened to God to get a sense of His direction, calling, and purpose for our life. It is this type of poverty of the heart that the typical American church member, Christian school student, teacher, and administrator can easily fall into.

So, if we are called to address issues of poverty (not just economic), how exactly do we do that? I sure wish there was an easy answer to that question. I have a hunch that those (me) who are living with a poverty of compassion, hope, and purpose could gain a clearer purpose, sense of hope, and more compassion for others by being exposed to and helping to address the poverty of others.

My perception is that this generation of students puts a high value on the relational aspects of learning. That is a core value to them. This makes modeling a key tool for teaching values, complex connections between principles, and what it means to be a servant leader and follower of Christ. Jesus modeled the way we all should live as he ate, traveled, worked, and interacted with his disciples. The disciples had the ultimate experiential learning environment and the results have changed our world.

My prayer is that we continue to grow in our ability to model Christ to others. If we claim to be a follower of Jesus yet our life does not attempt to reflect the life He lived, then we are damaging the cause of Christ. It will be exciting to look at our school and educational processes, honestly identify the poverty that exists, and in partnership with you, the Westside community, work toward eliminating it. The results could be amazing!

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