Jeff Noble's Blog, page 25

Retiring a Giant

I knew I’d met him before. He was the collegiate ministry leader for Arkansas Baptists. I’m sure I had been to an event as a college student that he’d spoken at.

On that afternoon in Fort Worth, Texas in 1991, all I could process was his tender heart. I was almost done with my master’s degree, and although the church I was serving in expected me to continue, I had sensed for a while that as much as I longed to stay in the DFW area, God had other plans. My heart was restless, and I just needed someone to talk to. Ever been there?

And so when I saw that there were representatives from the Arkansas Baptist Convention on the seminary campus that day, I dropped by, probably more out of homesickness and unrest than anything. I didn’t know I was meeting a giant.

David James became my boss a few months later. I served with Arkansas Baptists as a collegiate minister on the campus of the University of Arkansas at Monticello for eight years under his leadership.

This past August, David retired. He left a significant legacy for me and dozens of campus ministers and thousands of students over his years of service.

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Credit: Arkansas Baptist State Convention

I was privileged to have David not just as a boss, but sometime over the course of my tenure, I regarded him as a friend. He never lost his mentor status with me, however.

Here are some lessons I learned from his leadership:

Give a man a Mac, and he’ll love you forever.
Genuinely smile and say “wow” as if you’re impressed when a campus minister tells you something that you really know is a really bad idea.
Walk through tough situations and ministry moments on the phone or in person, never via text or email.
Even though you can, don’t seek to be the center of attention, the featured speaker, or the pied piper.
Select leaders slowly, ask good questions, and listen.
Pray with your eyes open.
Ask more questions, even thought-provoking, cringe-worthy ones.
Identify future leaders before they’re ready to lead, keep tabs on them, and occasionally cast vision for their life.
Assemble a team that has greater ambitions than you and let them lead.
Treat your leaders differently.
Run interference for your leaders so that they are free to to focus on what matters.
Make sure that spouses are well cared for.

There’s a surreal and happy convergence of relationships in my life that David is responsible for. Darrell Cook, BCM Director at Virginia Tech and Neal Nelson, Associate Pastor on staff with me at Northstar, are both former Arkansas campus ministers. We all are now serving here in Blacksburg and members of the same church. We met because David hired us as campus ministers in Arkansas. In addition to that, I’m deeply grateful for other ministry friendships that exist because of David James:

Tim Smith, Senior Executive Pastor (which means he’s older than me) at Pinelake Community Church in Mississippi was the BCM Director at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock
Jackie Flake, Pastor at the North Fort Smith, Arkansas campus of Community Bible Church was the BCM Director at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (and one of the first campus ministers in Arkansas I met)
Ben Phillips, Pastor of First Baptist Church in Murphy, TX, was the BCM Director at Southern Arkansas University (and we worked at Happy Hill Children’s Home and attended seminary together)
Kevin Inman, BCM Director at Louisiana Tech University, was the director at Ouachita Baptist University and before that the associate director under Lynn Lloyd at the University of Arkansas
Lynn Lloyd, University of Arkansas
Arliss Dickerson, Arkansas State University
George Sims was in the state office and supervised campus ministry facilities (and was a great help to me when we launched our fundraising campaign at the University of Arkansas at Monticello to build a new BCM center there).
Diane Parker facilitated missions for Arkansas BCM in the state office
Mark Robinson, Lousiana Baptist BCM College Team Leader was at Henderson State University before Neal Nelson served there.
Steven Weathers, Director of Multicultural Ministries at the Evangelical Free Church of America was the BCM Director at UAPB after Jackie Flake
Bit Stephens, University of Central Arkansas
Doug Hunt, Groups Leader at Rockbridge Community Church. He was the associate director at UALR BCM (became Metro under Tim Smith)
Darrell Ray, Arkansas Tech University; currently the Community Missions Evangelism Strategist at the ABSC
and so many others.. and this doesn’t include the assistants and interns and other staff associated with Arkansas BCM! There were so many students who stepped up and became campus ministers: Tracy Reed, Phillip Slaughter, Jeremy Woodall, to name a few.

David didn’t just assemble a team. He built a family. The campus ministers above all liked one another (for the most part). Our kids grew up together; we played basketball together at directors’ conferences; we commiserated and brainstormed (and griped) about the role of campus ministry in relationship to the local church. And David had to moderate this mixed group and meld it into a team of spiritual leaders.

He consistently brought us back to Jesus. He was passionate about intimacy with God through simple faith in Jesus. He’d let us dream, argue and even develop separate visions for different campuses, provided that he was assured that we each were seeking Jesus in intimacy.

He is a giant. He stood tall above us all, but none of us ever noticed how tall he was in those moments because he led from behind us. He equipped and encouraged and asked amazing questions, but he insisted we each follow Jesus faithfully in the unique ways that God was calling us to serve on our own campuses.

It takes a giant to hire great leaders, remain unintimidated by strong personalities with amazing gifts and lead with a gentle, quiet spirit.

At his retirement celebration, they asked different people to write tributes, notes or send videos. Here’s the video that Darrell, Neal and I sent. But this blog is the note that I would have written.. a few months late now.

Cancer hiccups

[image error]It’s been since February 2015. Almost four years. That was the last time we’ve had a cancer hiccup. I say “hiccup” because life is so much bigger than cancer. If you are familiar with Carolyn’s cancer journey, it has been one that even her current docs say is one for the textbooks. If you want to review the saga, previous blog posts are listed below.

As far as “now,” we’ve kept things somewhat under wraps for over a month, simply because we haven’t known exactly what we’re dealing with and the course of action we’ll be taking. We’ve kept our families and church leadership informed each step of the way, but as we’ve done in the past, we have used my blog to get the word out and to recruit prayer.

Carolyn has had a lump under her jawline for at least five years. The doctors have been aware of it and have watched it carefully at each of her regular checkups. This year, it started getting sore, and it finally got downright painful. It was time for surgery to remove the rogue lymph node, and of course, with Carolyn’s history that also meant a biopsy. Surgery was scheduled for September 25, and after a few days of waiting, we were totally surprised by the results.

Here’s the timeline for perspective:

Oct 16

The biopsy on the mass removed from Carolyn’s neck/jaw which we thought was a rogue lymph node turned out to be a rare, destructive salivary gland cancer. (Because it was rare, and because of her history with cancer, we asked for a second reading of the biopsy. The second reading, a few weeks later, confirmed the first. It is adenoid cystic.)
After discovering the salivary gland cancer, they asked Carolyn to get a PET scan on Saturday (Oct 13), which she did. This was to see if it was in other spots.
The results of the PET scan came back, and while there was no evidence of cancer in other salivary glands, there is a hot spot on one of her tonsils and in her throat, and there were some lymph nodes in her groin that lit up.
Carolyn’s doctor referred her to the Comprehensive Cancer Center, which is part of the Wake Forest Baptist Health system in Winston-Salem, NC. Two appointments were set up – one with an ENT specialist and one with a Hematology/Oncology specialist, who both deal in rare cancers.

Oct 31

Visited with Otolaryngologist (ENT) at CCC WF.

The visit was pretty sobering. Long process ahead.
The doc’s recommendation is surgery on her neck again to “clear the margins.” It will be more extensive than the previous surgery.
Then five weeks of radiation, 5 days a week.
He ordered a new CT scan (which she had that day) and wants to do a biopsy of her throat when he does the surgery to see what that shows.

The doc wants to do more research before the surgery is scheduled.

Nov 6

Visited with Hem-Onc at CCC WF.

He thought the spots in the groin were secondary to the salivary gland cancer. His focus was on the salivary gland. He is recommending 4-6 weeks of chemo and radiation first, then surgery.
Told us that her case will be presented to a Tumor Board on Nov 14 to discuss her case and come up with a plan. This will also include a radiologist to determine if Carolyn can receive more radiation (she had a massive amount back in 1991).
He wants to see how the cancer responds to the chemo/radiation before determining surgery extent.
He does not want to address the nodes in her groin/abdomen yet. While he suspects they are not cancer (may be sarcoid – which doesn’t need to be treated), he stressed the primary concern is the head/neck cancer.

Nov 15

WF CCC called and said that the Tumor Board met and recommend:

MRI with perineural invasion to determine nerve involvement
Genomic testing blood work to determine makeup of the cancer
Surgery
After more pathology from second surgery, the Tumor Board will determine the treatment.
Surgery is penciled in for Tuesday, December 11, at Wake Forest. Six week recovery.

What we heard today was different from the process described last week, which was chemo/radiation first, determine how the cancer responds, and then surgery. Today’s news was surgery first, then we will determine radiation/chemo later (which is what was recommended on Oct 31).

How to respond:

Don’t freak out. We are not. It is what it is, and we are not in control. Our life perspective is centered in the bedrock certainty that God is great, and God is good. That He is love. Nothing can touch us except what He’s appointed. It doesn’t feel good, and we certainly have questions, but since cancer is a reality (again), we are confident that His grace will be sufficient each day.
Speaking of grace… we may have bad days. It’s ok. We’re not perfect. Jesus is. Please don’t hold Jesus responsible for our imperfect responses. Give us grace, and pray that our bad days and shaky moments are few. And don’t be unnerved if/when either of us snips, snaps, gripes or struggles. It’s normal. We are going to lean heavily on strength of Jesus, confident in Him. Any failure to reflect Him is not due to His brightness but our dullness.
Pray. I think that goes without saying. Seriously.

• Pray for Carolyn’s thought life and mind as well as healing.

• Pray for the surgery to not be damaging to facial nerves.

We have lived with the craziness of cancer for 27 years. Whoa. You know what has ushered us through these moments? God’s love has been poured through your prayers. He’s real, folks. So pray. I can affirm with great confidence what the apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 1.11:“…you join in helping us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gift that came to us through the prayers of many.”
It’s not fun. It’s an interruption. It’s an inconvenience. However, like all of life’s hiccups, it’s an opportunity. There may be some moments of genuine suck along the way. Don’t be alarmed, and don’t get discouraged if we need to be reminded to not be alarmed.

There’s lots of home-grown remedies for hiccups. And some people have hiccups for years! We’re going to hold our breath, hold onto Jesus, and lean forward in faith.

Also in Our Cancer Saga

Carolyn was first diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease in 1991. Since then, it's been a wild, crazy cancer saga.

A Sheep’s Tale


Our Story, a week in October


Health update and uncertainty


Biopsy results…


Today’s stop: surgeon consultation


Doctor update


“As you help us by your prayers”


Where we are


Health latest…


Experiencing intercession


Two birthdays of good news


The chemo word


Surgery today


A little closure…


Chemo hero


Our Story: Miracles


Another opportunity to trust


Round 6 update


A La Carte: Health Update, December Nights kickoff, Saving Change and The First Snow


Final surgery – Round 6: gratitude in busyness


Health update 2014


Denied.


A little down: health update


Miracles in the mailbox


Immeasurably more..


Moving toward knowledge: surgery


Relief…


Cancer hiccups

View the entire series

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No silence: on personal retreats and the goodness of God

I’m writing from a cabin at Mountain Lake, just north of Blacksburg. It’s where Dirty Dancing was filmed, but don’t worry, I won’t be doing any. This beautiful lodge has been the perfect getaway for my personal retreat this fall. It’s been overcast and foggy (and cold) since I arrived, but the clinging fall colors and crisp freshness in the air are a gift to a tired pastor.

It’s been a busy year. Very busy. In addition to seeing people leave due to transition and disenchantment with the church (thankfully, the latter is very few), I’ve seen God bring a host of new faces, families and friends. I’ve been deeply challenged in the past few months to focus on genuinely discipling all of our members. Our commission is clear in the scripture. We are to “present everyone mature in Christ.” So, I’ve been praying and thinking about how to lead people to spiritual maturity without embracing a legalistic discipleship system.

We’re also in the process of construction – in the permitting and site development phase. It’s been so humbling to witness God’s financial provision for this church whose demographics are half under the age of 30. I am deeply blessed to be given the privilege of leading and preaching regularly to this beautiful collection of God’s people.

Personal retreats are focused discipline of mine. I know I need them. But this year almost got away from me. It was hard to find “time.” And genuinely, I am great at finding moments of retreat, reflection and even mindless entertainment to stave off overwhelming burdens. A couple of hours in a coffee shop, a good book, a game of Xbox, or a run all contribute to keeping stress managed. Those cannot replace, however, regular, daily time in reading scripture. It’s a purposed practice of mine. I sincerely believe with all my heart that God’s Word has inherent power to renew me when I read with a listening heart and submissive spirit.

This morning, I read Psalm 96, and as you can see below, I asked myself:

What can I do today to join creation’s song and the saints’ celebration of Jesus as King of glory?

All of the verbs in the Psalm leaped out at me. There is SO much I can do to make much of Jesus: sing, proclaim His salvation, declare His glory, ascribe, worship, tremble before Him, say, rejoice, resound, celebrate and shout for joy.

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I was reminded of Jesus’ words to the Pharisees in Luke 19:40, who when they urged Him to keep His disciples quiet and not praise Him as God (they didn’t believe He was), He responded, “I tell you, if they were to keep silent, the stones would cry out.”

When I was a teenager, our youth group would sing a chorus, “Ain’t no rock.. gonna cry in my place.. as long as I’m alive, I’ll glorify His holy name.”

I want to do that today – to glorify and testify and proclaim and sing about how good God is.

For the Lord is great and is highly praised;

he is feared above all gods.

For all the gods of the peoples are idols,

but the Lord made the heavens.

Splendor and majesty are before him;

strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.

He is good regardless of our experiences. He is good when times are good. And He’s good when times are bad. He is good. I don’t need a personal retreat to declare God is good, but if I don’t declare His goodness from my retreat, after reading Psalm 96, I fear I’d be letting the trees and rocks cry out.

A personal retreat is incredible. But a retreat without a Redeemer will not ultimately renew. Even with the foggy, fall-bedecked vistas outside my cabin, the views will not restore. This pull-away from a busy ministry schedule is simply for the purpose of rest, reflection and reconnection to the source of all Life.

Are you there? Do you sense in your soul a nagging weariness? It may be time for a retreat – if you can’t make a physical getaway – a change in scenery – happen, seek Him in a quiet corner, with an open Bible and a listening ear. Only He can heal or soothe. He can do it even in your busyness. He’ll meet you wherever.

I’m grateful He has met me here. Makes me want to dance… just not like Patrick Swayze.

Entries from past retreats:

Old journals and new journeys
A personal retreat
The Cove and personal spiritual retreats
Absolutely loving life…

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Nuff said: Ode to Stan Lee

I was web swinging this afternoon when I jumped over onto Twitter and discovered with dismay that Stan Lee, of Marvel Comics, had passed away at the age of 95. The last time I was so deeply moved by the death of a celebrity was when Steve Jobs died. Steve’s death prompted a blog entry (and an ode), and so must Stan’s.

In addition to wearing Spock socks (complete with ears that stick out), having a hot dog Instagram account and loving all things sci-fi, I grew up on comic books, and my favorite superhero was Spiderman. Call me a nerd (or a genius), but I still have all my comic books – just waiting for that perfect moment to dump them all and become an overnight hundred-aire.

[image error]Learning of Stan Lee’s death provoked reflection on the amazing success of the Marvel Empire. It seems that all my loves have had their evil antagonist. I’m a Mac guy, and so Bill Gates and his knock-off Windows OS was an easy target. I still love the “I’m a Mac. I’m a PC.” commercials. And Marvel’s archenemy was DC Comics. Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, the Justice League.. Just like PCs, these superheroes could never compete against the likes of Marvel’s Spiderman, Captain America, Iron Man and the Avengers or X-Men.

In the last 20 years, Marvel’s movies have demolished DC’s movies at the box office, culminating in a record-shattering opening weekend with Avengers: Infinity Wars. In fact, Marvel movies show up four times in the global box office top 10! It’s been so satisfying being a Marvel fan. It was Lee’s leadership and creative intuition that helped Marvel achieve such blockbuster status.

“I used to be embarrassed because I was just a comic book writer while other people were building bridges or going on to medical careers. And then I began to realize: entertainment is one of the most important things in people’s lives. Without it, they might go off the deep end. I feel that if you’re able to entertain, you’re doing a good thing.” ~ Stan Lee

Comic books weren’t just a hobby for me. They weren’t an escape. They They increased my love for stories, for reading, for creativity, for the ability to communicate with images.

My cousin was a year older than me, and he shared my love for comics, but he was more of a DC guy. When I’d spend a few weeks at my grandparents house in Hamburg, Arkansas over the summers, he and I would inevitably increase our comic collections by a small stack, thanks to Foote’s Grocery Store carrying a comic turnstile.

One of the infamous comic stories of the Noble household was something I only learned of after the fact – and I still have a hard time believing its reality. It seems that I’d made my little sister angry about something. Who knows what.. For revenge, she took a large stack of my comics and gave them away to kids in the neighborhood.

Another comic book story was the discovery of my dad’s old comic books in my grandparents’ attic after a fire had burned almost everything else. We’d looked for his comics for years, but when we were cleaning out the burned attic, I pulled up a cardboard box, and there, underneath, untouched by the fire were my dad’s comics!

One of my favorite things about all the Marvel movies is how Stan Lee had a cameo in each one of them. You knew he would show up, you just didn’t know when.

 

[image error]It has been so interesting seeing how many people have paid tribute to Lee today and in the days to come. Even the U.S. Army tweeted a tribute to Lee, who served in the Army for three years during World War II.

Nuff Said

In late 2013, I began using “Nuff Said” as as a series title for blogs that I wrote that had a collection of articles from the internet. I have used the phrase in my writings consistently over the past 20 years +. I got that from Stan Lee, who would conclude some of his comic stories with the phrase.

Thanks, Stan, for stoking imagination, for providing hours of entertainment, for your sense of humor and for helping us see there’s a hero in all of us.

‘Nuff said.

More on Stan Lee

All of the Stan Lee cameos from Marvel movies, and why we love them
Marvel and Disney Remember Stan Lee

And for your viewing entertainment..

There’s a whole series of these, and this is the first.. from 11 years ago!

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Why I think Apple is missing the iPhone mark

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Credit: The Verge

First of all, here’s why I’m an expert and qualified to write this story. I’ve been an Apple fan boy since 1987. I vividly remember the surreal experience of using the first iPhone in public and having people ask me if they could see it. 

iPhones were innovative. Surprising. Amazing. Today, they are just… meh. M-E-H.

More Expensive, Ho-hum.

I had the iPhone X and took it back. I’ve tried the “new iPhone experience” and found it lacking in usefulness to me. [See my post Why I got rid of my iPhone X.] I certainly don’t want a newer iPhone X.

Here’s why I think Apple is missing the mark:


More.
There’s certainly a market (obviously a huge one) for people who want an all-in-one device. Photographers (both hobbyist and professional), video junkies (their device is their TV), gamers, geeks and the average person who thinks they need all that but only uses four apps (they’re a lot like the person with the high-end Macbook Pro who only uses Microsoft Office on it).

But there’s also a massive (and growing) market for simplicity and common sense. We don’t need all those things in a phone. We don’t want BIGGER. We want a smallish phone, with some of the latest tech. Give us functionality and innovation, but don’t wrap it up in a package that is a Cadillac when all we want is a nice Chevy.


Expensive. With these new iPhones, Apple’s lowest price point is $750! Folks, let’s back away from the hype and say slowly, “That’s ridiculous.” What happened to the $300-$400 price point? Or cheaper? The iPhone XS starts at $999, and XS Max starts at $1099. (You can buy a Macbook for that!)

Now I know the argument here. (Remember, I had the first iPhone and just about every iteration ever since except the Plus sizes.) The first iPhones were subsidized heavily by Cingular, AT&T and later every other phone company. The phones have always cost upwards of $500-$600. You get what you pay for, right? 

However, all of these phones… they want you to use them for a year and a half and then upgrade. They don’t want you to keep your iPhone forever. It’s planned obsolescence. But it’s expensive planned obsolescence. Not only are we paying for our cell service, but we’re now forced into contracts where we “buy out” our phones over 12-24 month installments, which becomes an additional $30-$40 a month on our cell phone bills.


Ho-hum. As I read article after article on the new phones announced today, I thought, “They’re just the same phone.” Boring. Improvements and impressive abilities, but people… it’s supposed to be a phone. Because they’re making it a computer/camera/phone/TV, it’s just too much. 

Apple should make the iCamera and tickle the fancy of video/photography enthusiasts. Give the rest of us a solid, functional, fun device with a decent camera and we’ll be happy. We don’t print the pictures we take anyway, and I can’t tell you how many people I know don’t back up their phones and end losing their pictures on them anyway.

I think Steve Jobs would be ticked off. Under his leadership, Apple was not about incremental improvements. They stayed ahead of all of us and redefined (and re-invented) the computer, music, and cell phone industries. They created what we didn’t know we wanted. 

Now, I’m afraid they’re just trying to keep up with the Joneses.. or at least stay one step ahead of them.


What I hoped for…

I wanted a smaller phone – smaller even than the current offerings. I loved the form factor of the iPhone 5/5S/SE. I was hoping we’d get new tech in that form factor.
Home button. I hate facial recognition to open your locked phone. I already talked about this in the article I wrote about taking the iPhone X back. I. Hate. It. I want a home button. With these new phones, Apple has dropped the home button completely. I wonder if the last iteration (iPhone 8) will actually become more popular now?
Fun features for $400-$500. Give me these things, with animojis and a portrait camera. It doesn’t have to be the best camera – put the camera in it from the iPhone 7 Plus, and I’d be happy.

I’m still hoping Apple will create again. I’m hoping for a product unveiling that will cause our jaws to drop and will cause random strangers in a coffee shop to say, “Can I see how that works?”

 

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August 29: A day to make much of Jesus

I’m back to reading Psalms in my devotional times in the morning. I thank Donald Whitney for that helpful instruction. Today was Psalm 29, being August 29, and I wanted to share my thought process that has led me to want to shine the brightest spotlight possible upon Jesus Christ. I hope my feeble illumination might encourage you to attempt to do the same – in a tweet, Facebook status, creative video, blog post, coffee convo or bedtime prayers with your kids. I think all of our feeble flickerings together, if singularly focused, might light the darkness that others find themselves in and help them see the Light of the World for the first time in living color.

Here’s Psalm 29:

Ascribe to the Lord, you heavenly beings,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
worship the Lord
in the splendor of his holiness.
The voice of the Lord is above the waters.
The God of glory thunders —
the Lord, above the vast water,
the voice of the Lord in power,
the voice of the Lord in splendor.
The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
the Lord shatters the cedars of Lebanon.
He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,
and Sirion, like a young wild ox.
The voice of the Lord flashes flames of fire.
The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth
and strips the woodlands bare.
In his temple all cry, “Glory! ”
The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
the Lord sits enthroned, King forever.
The Lord gives his people strength;
the Lord blesses his people with peace.

Here’s how I responded/what I noticed about:

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Notice the descriptive words and action verbs. Think on that. The voice of the Lord can break/shatter the cedars of Lebanon. It can create mountains or planets. (Genesis 1 teaches us that the voice of the LORD was the means of creation!) 

Then there’s the beautiful truth revealed in Isaiah 42.3:

“He will not break a bruised reed, and he will not put out a smoldering wick.”

Jesus fulfills and embodies Isaiah 42.3. The voice of Jesus, our Messiah, spoken over broken and bruised people is tender, loving and gentle as He calls us to salvation and repentance. Wow.

The disciples recognized this, and the gospel of Matthew records that Jesus completely fulfilled this prophecy of Isaiah in Matthew 12.17-21 and ends with the adoring response of people to Jesus’ life and ministry:

“The nations will put their hope in His name.” 

Matthew 12.21

There are simply no words to capture the awe-full affection I have for the Lord Jesus. His voice can SHATTER, but He speaks to me and to you in such a way that He doesn’t break the bruised reed of our soul. I am so deeply grateful that He will not put out the fluttering flame of faith in my life, but that wherever He finds feeble faith, He is pleased to fan it into a warm and illuminating flame. Flames give heat and LIGHT, and it’s my hope today – August 29, 2018 – to encourage YOU to make much of King Jesus in SOME way. Shine YOUR light – however weak you may feel it is – upon Him.

No matter how discouraged you may be, shine your light upon Him. Focus your thoughts upon His awesome, controlled power. He could shatter, but He chooses to heal. We look around at our violent, hate-filled and divided world today, and we long for justice, peace, and just.. relief. And ALL of that is found in a love relationship with Jesus Christ.

It’s my earnest prayer that this flickering will combine with yours to illuminate the darkness with the light of Jesus today. I’d love to hear how this provokes you or encourages you.

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On building a church called Northstar

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Tomorrow my church will celebrate its first groundbreaking and its 15th anniversary. Our church’s motto/vision is “Don’t go to church. Be the church.” It’s not original to us, but we mean it.

So let me start over. Tomorrow, the incredible group of stumbling, awkward, joyful, imperfect, hopeful Jesus followers that call themselves “Northstar Church” will break ground on their first ministry facility. It’s also the 15th year since they began being the church together.

I’ve been privileged to be their pastor since July 2009. I suspected when I began serving God by serving them that a ministry facility would be in our future. They began meeting in Blacksburg Middle School in 2003, and due to the grace and kindness of the local school board, we are in our fifteenth year of using the school as our place of worship.

Northstar is not a perfect church. By any means. However, we are a joyful church, and we are intentional about humbly following Jesus. We encourage each other, correct each other, and recognize that we are all at different stages of spiritual maturity. And yet we are committed to loving God and loving others with grace and truth.

Groundbreaking

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A lot of thought went into our first ministry facility design. We wanted it to be a community center. We didn’t want it to be a “church building.” We wanted it to enhance and facilitate relationships, groups, meetings, connections and friendships. We wanted it to useful and use-able. We wanted businesses, civic organizations, community groups and students to want to use it – for meetings, gatherings, conferences, hang outs, parties, weddings, corn hole, and cookouts. 

We are excited about the opportunities we’ll have for ministry and for community in (and outside of) this new facility. [You can find out more here.] It’s truly been an incredible journey of faith, relationships, struggle and growth for us as a church.

The scared pastor

I know the Bible has a ton to say about “do not fear.” I know that. Before any of you start preaching to the preacher, please know that I’m simply confessing here. The emoji that best defines me on many days is

Review: Rediscovering Humility

Rediscovering Humility by Christopher Hutchinson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Every Christian should make it a point to read – no to submit to – a book about humility. When Jesus Himself is demonstrated to be humble and in a day of celebrity pastors, there is much we can apply, consider and be censured on as we approach the teaching about humility.. humbly. Chris is a friend and local pastor. I am thankful for his work. Reading it has encouraged me, nurtured me and re-minded me of the joy of humility. He makes the point well that I cannot pursue and become humble without pursuing and becoming more like Jesus.

And before you’re tempted to pat yourself on the back for reading a book on humility, take this quote from Chris to heart: “The goal is to grow in humility, not in brilliance.”

[View all my reviews on Goodreads]

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Broaden your prayers

[image error][This was posted on our church blog originally.]

In a moment of unsettling clarity, I wrote in my journal last week that I must press beyond selfish prayers. I found myself asking God to broaden my prayers. And it was in that very moment that a couple from my church was dropped into my thoughts. I immediately began praying for them. I still don’t know why. But I wrote their names into my prayer pages at the back of my journal and will continue to lift them up. Another name/face came to me soon after, and I added this single young man to my prayer focus as well.

I believe we all tend toward selfish prayers. We pray diligently for ourselves and for our immediate family, but we must press deeper and be led broader than just our immediate proximity in our prayers. I’m directed to the NATIONS, not just my own little circle of loved ones.

“This is what is written: The Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead the third day, and repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” (Luke 24.46-47)

Thankfully, God has the world on His heart! And thankfully, He has ME on His heart.

“Indeed, the hairs of your head are all counted. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” (Luke 12.7)

That’s easier for God to do these days as my hair thins. However, the point is simply this: God knows me. God loves me. He is not just aware of my hair. He is aware of my fear. He is aware of my heart, my mind, my thoughts, my doubt, my hangups and hiccups. And He loves me. I can trust Him to care for more than my hair.

This same God who knows my follicles invites me/compels me to pray for others – even those I will never meet. If I will broaden my prayer, others will be blessed, AND I will be blessed, for I will draw closer to the heart of God. I will experience more of His perspective. I will be raised above my own small concerns/worries. I will see Him work through my prayers.

And so I want to invite you to help me pray. Here’s how:

Pray for my prayers, that they would grow in frequency, depth and breadth.
As you sense a need for help, please submit your prayer requests via our church’s prayer form. On it, you can indicate if you’d like your request to be for me or if you’d be willing to allow our prayer, care team or church staff to intercede for you as well.

Let’s grow in prayer together. Both in our exercise and in our humility. Let’s pray, and let’s allow others to pray for us.

START NOW.

Ask God to broaden your prayers and then wait in silence. If He brings someone to your mind immediately, randomly, lift them up in prayer. Write down their names. Pray daily. Then watch for how God may work as a result. Then.. if you have a need that you sense God wants you to invite others to help meet through prayer, submit your prayer request.

There’s an overlooked verse in the Old Testament:

“They received help against these enemies because they cried out to God in battle, and the Hagrites and all their allies were handed over to them. He was receptive to their prayer because they trusted in him.” (1 Chronicles 5.20)

May we also trust in God and discover His gracious receptivity as we pray.

Also in Prayer in Progress


How do you pray?


Broaden your prayers

View the entire series

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How do you pray?

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Via: Pew Research Center

In 2014, a in-depth study was done on the praying life of Americans. 21% say they pray weekly or monthly and 23% say they seldom or never pray. Even among those who are religiously unaffiliated, 20% say they pray daily. 45% of Americans – and a majority of Christians (55%) – say they rely a lot on prayer and personal religious reflection when making major life decisions.

 

I’m a pray-er. And I need prayer. I truly believe that God is both good and powerful – that His every interaction with us is cloaked with love. When we can’t grasp what He’s doing, and we don’t feel like following, when we are certain of His love, we can trust and “carry on.”

It is prayer that allows us to carry on.

Prayer.

Not the rote, repetitive kind. I’m talking about honest, vulnerable conversation with God. Prayer is the literal engine of our faith.

Henry Blackaby says in Experiencing God that “If you have an obedience problem, you have a love problem.” This truth has the potential to transform your relationship with God from one of grudging “have-to” to one of joyful “want-to.” Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey my commands.” (John 14.12) When we understand how much God loves us, we will want to submit our lives to Him.

I think Blackaby could better emphasize prayer as a significant dimension of our relationship with God in his book, however. (It’s not that he de-emphasizes it.) Loving God should lead to our obeying God. It’s just that in the process between loving God and obeying God, there should be a lot of honest, vulnerable and perhaps even painful conversation. To put it another way, it’s our conversation with God (or lack of it) that reveals what we really believe about Him.

If we simply obey without conversation, without affirmation, without affection, we are missing the point. We must tell Him why we’re obeying. In some cases, we may obey from sheer duty and faith (we don’t want to, but we trust His Word is right and true). At other times, we joyfully obey Him because we sense His pleasure and see His purpose.

All along the way, we must pray.

In Victorious Living, E. Stanley Jones explains how prayer changes us more than it changes God:

Prayer is not bending God to our wills–it is the bringing of our wills to God’s. When we throw out a boat hook and catch hold of the shore, do we pull the shore to ourselves? Rather we pull ourselves to the shore. Prayer does not pull God to us, it pulls us to God. It aligns our wills with His will, so that He can do things through us that He would not otherwise have been able to do. An almighty Will works through our weak wills, and we can do things all out of proportion to our ability. Prayer is, therefore, not overcoming God’s reluctance; it is laying hold of His highest willingness. Those who pray link up with that willingness.

Kent Hughes summarizes Jones like this in his book Liberating Ministry from the Success Syndrome:

Prayer is surrender—surrender to the will of God and cooperation with that will. Prayer is not pulling God to my will, but the aligning of my will to the will of God.

I love that we are invited and expected to pray by God. That should be a huge clue as to how much He loves us. It should also reveal that as we pray, we will grow and see Him work. Prayer is our intimate connection to a God that loves us and is transforming us daily. When we pray, we know His heart and mind. When we obey, we experience His will.

Prayer Journaling

Last year, I began a different approach to my prayers. I use the back 4-5 pages in my journal for prayers. Here’s how it looks:

One page is reserved for “prayer requests” – things that others have asked me to pray for.
One page is reserved for “prayers” – things I’m aware of about my own life or others (that they’ve not asked me to pray for)
One page is reserved for missionaries. I pray for a different missionary/team/org each day of the week.
One page is reserved for “answers.” I always date a prayer request on the pages above, and if I see an answer, I’ll notate it again with the date I see an answer. On this page, I also list answers to prayer. Sometimes, I’ll be praying about something and have forgotten to write it down, and when I see an answer that delights me, I want to record it.

This part of my journal has become well-used. It’s a humble privilege to pray for others, and a refreshment to my own heart to see that God responds so faithfully.

[image error]According to the survey I cited earlier, there’s a whole lotta prayin‘ going on in America. It’s sobering that people of all religions pray in some way. How do you pray? May I encourage you to do so constantly, confidently and expectantly? He loves you.

More on Prayer here on the Blog:

A pastoral prayer (10/17/2013)
A personal prayer from 2009
Inner prayer (3/29/2015)
Pastoral Prayer (10/20/2013)
Proof of prayer’s effectiveness (1/20/2011)
Prayer for campus ministries (8/5/2009)
Scriptural prayers (5/5/2009)
John Baillie’s prayer and perspective (8/7/2007)
Answered Prayers = More Struggle (4/7/2006)
Yancey on prayer (7/23/2007)

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