Have you ever prayed the Jesus Prayer?

Long time readers of this blog will know that I love the Jesus Prayer. The Jesus prayer is inspired by the prayer of the publican in Luke 8. I came to love it after reading The way of the Pilgrim (which is a must read book)

Traditionally the prayer goes "Κύριε Ιησού Χριστέ, Υιέ του Θεού, ελέησόν με τον αμαρτωλόν." Which is "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner" in english. There are however several variations on it.

It's been a central prayer to the life of the church for at least fifteen centuries. and now there is a new documentary coming out inspired by it.

I created a playlist with some promotional clips from the documentary below. I hope you live it. I am really pumped about it.

Has anyone here had much experience with this prayer?

Who wrote the Bible?

I ran into this Video today via Doug Pagitt... I thought it was pretty good.

This is pretty much what I believe... How about you? How did we get the Bible today? What's your understanding of it?

Survey: How do you use your creativity to do the work of God?

This week the New York times reported that creativity in the USA was down. The article essentially said people are learning less about how to be creative and more about how to satisfy testing standards and meet scores.

I find this news somewhat troubling. As an American I see our creativity (which up until now has been the best worldwide) as the only bright light up ahead. As jobs move overseas due to out-sourcing and national debt continues to rise at incredible rates Americas greatest hope was the ability of it's citizens to innovate and create a new way forward. Without creativity there is no innovation, and we are stuck with the same methodology and inclinations that created the problems in the first place. I believe it was Einstein who once said, “Problems cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them.”

The article asks the question "How can we foster creativity," but I don't know if that gets at the heart of the issue. Abraham Maslow, the famous psychologist, once said, "The key question isn’t “What fosters creativity?” But it is why in God’s name isn’t everyone creative? Where was the human potential lost? How was it crippled? I think therefore a good question might be not why do people create? But why do people not create or innovate? We have got to abandon that sense of amazement in the face of creativity, as if it were a miracle if anybody created anything.

I agree with Maslow for the most part, but I disagree with his last statement. I believe our creativity is at it's heart miraculous. Part of what makes a human being a reflection of God is the propensity toward creativity.God is an amazingly creative force, and he has miraculously created us with that same amazing nature.

God creates from the beginning(Genesis 1:1) until now and will continue to create even until the end (Revelation 21:5), and God gives creativity as a spiritual gift (Exodus 31:1-4)...

Do you take time to use your God given gift of creativity?

How? How do you use your creativity to do the work of God?

Please give your answers in the comments section!

What is Sunday Morning for?

Have you ever heard someone say something like, " Church must be relevant to the lost people who need Christ?"
It's something I hear all the time.

And it's something I agree with...

However when you start talking to them you find they have a completely different idea of what a "relevant" church looks like...

In most cases in my life this confusion stems from different uses of the word “Church.”

For many people “Church” refers to the structures, services, and programs offered by an organization... and often time is simply shorthand for talking about Sunday morning services.
My understanding of "Church" is the community of believers baptized into christ. You might see how this can get confusing.

I just finished a book by Pastor Brad Powell called "Change Your Church for Good." All and all it wasn't a bad book but I think the name "change your Sunday for good" might have been more appropriate.

Let me tell you why...

For all my years in ministry I have heard about Pastor Brad Powell. Brad is the pastor of North Ridge church in Plymouth, Michigan, the largest church near my home town of Ann Arbor. I remember touring their expansive youth area, going to concerts in their stadium style sanctuary, and talking to countless people in the area about their experiences attending or visiting this church, but somehow I never actually attended a service there. The life of their church has been something that has always remained somewhat enigmatic to me.

Because of this I was really interested in reading “Change Your Church for Good,” Powells new book, and was blessed to receive a complementary copy of the book from Thomas Nelson.

The book is in many ways a history of Northridge and the changes Pastor Powell believes resulted in their great growth. For him the core of what made the church grow seems to be linked with a concern for the well being of outsiders rather then insiders a.k.a. Making "church" more relevant.

Powells process  of making church more relevant for the lost seems to be centered around the Sunday service. This is intended to give the attendees a experience that is easy to follow with an aesthetic that is easy to swallow.

This is accomplished by using language that is easy to understand, a message that can be picked up by anyone and applied to their lives, music that mimics popular formulas, and an environment devoid of any of the potentially confusing vestments, art and architecture of the historical church.

Within this candy coating Powell argues that there should be a strong foundation on Biblical truth that does not suffer from cultural erosion. Powell likens historical church structures to a hand pump that delivers living water in a way that has become irrelevant in the age of the mega church faucet. Traditional church structures “put people to sleep,” according to Powell, but new one wake them up.

What is waking them up? Is it the videos and music or is it the conviction and life of the Holy Spirit?
I have gone to just about every kind of church service there is, and every single one I have gone to has a predictable formula and order. If you are simply trying to surprise people with a service it will get very old very fast.

Wouldn’t the world be much more shocked by lives that consistently demonstrate love then with a service that consistently mimics their surroundings.

On the surface “Change Your Church for Good” seems to be a book that teaches pastors how to make a service that make it easy for people to fit God into their lives. With a message of “make attenders of all nations” rather then make disciples...

This is too harsh though...

It’s clear that Powell has a passion for reaching the lost, and hurt people with the message of Jesus. I am actually very glad for the work he is doing in my hometown. The book offers valuable insight to the the difficulties of leading a church organization. Powell discusses how to build up leaders, make gradual changes, and steer clear on some very real dangers that any pastor or church leader may face.

I would like to hear more about how Powell works to make disciples once he had attenders.

Sunday is the beginning the first day of creation and the day where a group of confused women first discovered that Jesus was risen two thousand years ago. This surprising discovery is often the experience of people who come to Northridge.

So thank you Brad! Keep up the good work.

However in my own spiritual life I have found that the means though which God has formed me have been through many of the same religious rituals and traditions that Powell rejects as the irrelevant “hand-pump.”

Doesn’t water taste so much sweeter when you have to work for it?

Sunday is ALSO the end... the Eighth Day, the eschaton, where we celebrate in the liturgy with the angels and saints in praise of God and commune with Christ himself. This is something I get a taste of in the traditional liturgies of the church.

We are all believes between Sundays... living as part of the Church.