Hope in 2014

As 2014 approaches, many people set New Year's resolutions such as losing weight, spending more time with family, quitting smoking, and more.

In a recent letter from author John Eldredge, he said that God has hope in store for us:

A thrill of hope.

I think it's been quite sometime since my heart felt a thrill of hope. I've certainly had a nudge or two of hope, maybe even a stirring of hope. But wouldn't it be wonderful to feel a thrill of hope, perhaps to feel it in some new way for the first time? Let's see if we can find that, open our hearts to its coming, just as Mary opened herself to the coming of Jesus. . .

As 2014 approaches, my hope for everyone is. . . hope.

The Message

Often we find other things besides Jesus to comfort us when life gets tough. On p. 166 of "The Sacred Romance," his book with John Eldredge, Brent Curtis shares about his comforters and Jesus as our home:

My 'comforter,' my abiding place, was cynicism and rebellion. From this abiding place, I would feel free to use some soul cocaine -- a violence video with maybe a little sexual titillation thrown in, perhaps having a little more alcohol with a meal than I might normally drink -- things that would allow me to feel better for just a little while. I had always thought of these things as just bad habits. I began to see that they were much more; they were spiritual abiding places that were my comforters and friends in a very spiritual way; literally, other lovers.

The final light went on one evening when I read John 15 in 'The Message.' Peterson translates Jesus' words on abiding this way: 'If you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon.' Jesus was saying in answer to my question, 'I have made my home in you, Brent. But you still have other comforters you go to. You must learn to make your home in me.' I realized that my identity had something to do with simply 'staying at home.'

Jesus, please help us to find our home in you.

Prayers for nations

I have written before about Gordon Dalbey and his self-admitted naivete in challenging the huge demonic strongholds over Los Angeles. On pp. 201-202 of "No Small Snakes: A Journey Into Spiritual Warfare," Dalbey shares how he felt called to pray for nations, but was understandably gun-shy because of his experience praying against the demons of Los Angeles:

...I recalled the teachings on territorial spirits by Australian John Dawson, which I had received in the pastors' group. I thought also of my guitar and tape deck, stolen after I had rushed to pray against territorial spirits over Los Angeles. Instinctively, I hesitated. Was I rashly exposing myself again to further counterattack and destruction in my life? Yes, I was fasting and expected greater power to overcome the enemy -- but could such prayer for entire nations be overstretching proper caution?

I realized that the most compelling argument for my staying open and continuing to pray this way was simply that I had not sought this ministry of warfare, nor had I in any sense set out with a prayer agenda for England. In the past, I had, for example, focused on Los Angeles out of my own impetus. Now, however, the thrust seemed to be coming from outside of myself. Okay, Lord, I prayed, if You're calling me in this moment to pray for particular nations, lead on -- but I will not pray any further unless You show me.

I sat quietly waiting. Moments later, an outline map of Australia came to mind. I waited longer, and the map remained. All right, Lord, if this is from You, show me the spirits over Australia You want me to pray against. Once again, names of demonic activity came to mind, and I yielded and prayed. Within a half hour, I was led to pray as well for Japan, Nigeria, and Russia. (Later, between 1995 and 2008, I ministered in England on nine visits and in Australia on four.)

Listen to the Lord for guidance in your prayers.

Surviving a breakup

A breakup is never easy -- particularly one's first. In "Beautiful Outlaw: Experiencing the Playful, Disruptive, Extravagant Personality of Jesus," John Eldredge recalls on page 190 how Jesus encouraged him to look at Eldredge's first breakup from a different perspective:

Last year, as a wise old sage was praying with me through some of the painful memories of my life, I was immediately reminded of the time in middle school when my first girlfriend broke my heart. These wounds can linger for a lifetime if you let them -- the first cut is the deepest, and all that. We asked Jesus to take me back to the memory. I saw us, the girl and me; it was that fateful summer day. We were in the living room, just as it happened. Then I saw Jesus enter the room. He was quite stern with her, and it surprised me. That mattered to you? I wondered. Very much, he said.

Then Jesus turned to me. I felt his love. I realized I could let the whole thing go. It was so healing. To understand that Jesus is angry about what happened to you is very, very important in understanding his personality but also in your relationship with him and for your healing. What I love about these encounters is that every time -- every time -- Jesus is so true to his real personality. Sometimes fierce, sometimes gentle, always generous, and often very playful.

Ask Jesus to take you back to your memories that need healing.

Beautiful front teeth

The Accuser always enjoys taking our doubts and needling us with them over and over. On pp. 150-151 of "The Sacred Romance," John Eldredge shares the story of his friend Mary, who felt very self-conscious about losing her front teeth during an accident in early adolescence.

Years later, she struggled to finally resolve the issue with dental caps. What should have been a simple procedure took weeks, then months. Appointment after appointment, the caps were either the wrong color, the wrong shape, or the wrong size. When she finally did get a pair that she could live with, the glue didn't hold. Where was the Sacred Romance in such a mundane and yet withering struggle? Why didn't God ride in as hero and provide a beautiful set of caps? Wouldn't that have been the loving thing to do? As the ordeal continued, a major issue of her heart surfaced. Mary's teeth had long been for her a symbol of her struggle with the question of her inner beauty. Her teeth were a source of shameful arrows lodged deep. A seemingly irrelevant nit that God refused to take away became an opportunity to face a fundamental question the heart of every woman asks: Am I lovely? Without the nit, the deeper issue of her heart would never have come up. Once it did, the real battle began.

The Accuser stepped in with a subtle, deadly stream of thoughts: 'Look, just settle for the wrong caps and get on with your life. Your desire for beauty is nothing more than vanity. Things will never change. God doesn't care for your heart or he would have taken care of your teeth.' And finally, 'This is who you really are: unlovely and unlovable.'

Each time Mary looked in the mirror, these sentences urged her to lose heart. Some days, the crisis felt as if it would crush her spirit; on other days, she just felt dumb. Meanwhile, Mary's false lovers took their cue and began offering to help her deal with the pain. Food promised to take away her heartache; busyness lured her to bury it beneath a deluge of Christian service. Even the faith practiced by the charismatic church she attends offered to lift her beyond the struggle if she would only focus on the Lord and worship more frequently.

Thankfully, her True Love was persistent in his pursuit of her heart, refusing to let her take the easy way out. The question of her inner beauty broke to the surface one day, and, fortunately, a friend with eyes for the Romance was there to help her see what was at stake. Once Mary finally turned and faced the core issue, God was able to speak words of loving reassurance: 'You are lovely, Mary, and I want you to offer your inner beauty, your womanly heart to the world.'

Mary's situation was another instance of God using our friends to connect with us.

Climbing Mount Everest

In John Eldredge's books, he often talks about climbing adventures. On pp. 216-217 of "Wild at Heart," Eldredge shares how God related climbing to the adventures in life:

In the past year or so I've made a number of decisions that make no sense unless there is a God and I am his friend. I left my corporate job and struck out on my own, following a dream I've long feared. I've picked up the shattered pieces of a vision I lost when my best friend and partner Brent was killed in a climbing accident. What feels most crazy of all, I've opened my self to friendship again and a new partner, and we're heading out where Brent and I left off. The battle has been intense; a steep ascent that's taking everything I've got. The stakes I'm playing at now are immense -- financially, sure, but more so spiritually, relationally. It's requiring a concentration of body, soul, and spirit I've never before endured.

What is perhaps the hardest part is the misunderstanding I live with from others on a daily basis. Sometimes the winds howl around me; other times I fear I'll fall. The other day I was feeling way out on the end of my rope, cutting a path across a sheer face of risk. Out of my heart rose a question. What are we doing, God?

We're climbing Everest.

Life indeed can be challenging, but we are bolstered when God is with us.

Finding God in the mountains

At one point in his life, author John Eldredge was trying to choose between going to graduate school

and accepting a high-paying job in Washington, D.C. On p. 202 of his book "Wild at Heart," Eldredge shares how God helped him to sort things out during a visit to the mountains:

Life makes more sense standing alone by a lake at high elevation with a fly rod in hand. The tentacles of the world and my false self seemed to give way as I climbed up into the Holy Cross Wilderness. On the second day God began to speak. John, you can take that job if you want to. It's not a sin. But it'll kill you and you know it. He was right; it has False Self written all over it. If you want to follow Me, he continued, I'm heading that way. I knew exactly what he meant -- 'that way' headed into wilderness, frontier. The following week three phone calls came in amazing succession. The first was from the Washington firm; I told them I was not their man, to call somebody else. As I hung up the phone my false self was screaming what are you doing?! The next day the phone rang again; it was my wife, telling me that the university had called wanting to know where my first tuition installment was. On the third day a call came from a longtime friend who had been praying for me and my decision. 'We think you ought to go to school,' he said. 'And we want to pay your way.'

Getting away from the busyness of life really can help us to slow down and contemplate decisions. I find the shores of Lake Superior particularly peaceful.

Becoming myself

God accepts us. He loves us. In the words of Stasi Eldredge, he "embraces us." By that, she means trusting God and "embracing the goodness of God's creative work in us."

Elredge recently shared in a letter from Ransomed Heart a touching experience with God:

About twenty years ago, I was at church and in a very low place. I felt hideously ugly. I was telling myself that I looked like Jabba the Hutt. (Not very nice words to say to oneself.) Kneeling in prayer, I asked God, 'How do you see me?' In my sanctified imagination, I immediately 'saw' a woman kneeling. The sun was filtering through the window and streaming a golden beam of light on her head. She was wearing a lovely fitted white satin dress. Her hair was softly yet ornately done up with seed pearls in it. She was beautiful, clearly held in the gaze of her God, and a Bride.

God saw Stasi as beautiful. And He sees all of us as beautiful. Read more of Stasi's work in her new book, "Becoming Myself: Embracing God's Dream of You."

Spiritual warfare and deeper communication with God

Sometimes I wonder what things in my life are spiritual warfare and what are not. On pp. 119-120 of "The Sacred Romance: Drawing Closer to the Heart of God," Brent Curtis writes how spiritual warfare brought deeper communication between him and God.

On the other hand, once we begin thinking of all the deceptions the enemy is about with regard to our lives, we have a tendency to become obsessed with him, fearful of what he is going to do next. Once we take him seriously, he switches from his tactic of 'I'm not here' to one of having us worry about him day and night, which is almost a form of worship. God graciously showed me this several years ago while I was in the midst of an intense, three-year spiritual battle on behalf of a client who had spent years in the control of a satanic cult.

One night, David (not his real name) called me on the phone at three in the morning, in the midst of painful spiritual torment. We talked and prayed and I began to read from the Psalms. Finally, I could hear by his deep breathing that he had fallen asleep. As I lay on my dining room floor, pondering whether to leave the phone off the hook and build up a huge phone bill or hang up and risk having the beeping of the phone-off-the-hook signal wake David, something wonderful and strange took place.

In my heart, I heard a voice say, 'Brent, forget about the battle. You're here with me now. Rest.' I looked up, actually expecting to see God in some way, or perhaps an angel. What I did see was the light in the room change. I find myself wanting to say it grew more distinct, almost more personal. I only know I discovered that my hand was raised in the air in worship. I didn't decide to raise it. I am not, by any means, an expressive person in the charismatic sense of the word. It was simply as if there was no other appropriate response and my hand acted accordingly. For several minutes I basked in what I can only describe now as God's warmth and love toward me. The epiphany ended with me reading the Twenty-third Psalm and others it seemed the Lord had chosen to assure me that I was not alone in the battle.

Through spiritual warfare, Satan tries to separate us from God. God, on the other hand, wants to draw us closer.

Psychology and religion

By having empathy for people, we can gain insight into how to pray for them. Take, for example, Gordon Dalbey's story from his book "No Small Snakes: A Journey Into Spiritual Warfare" (pp. 193-194):

I had tickets to hear a speaker on the subject of psychology and religion. During the break time, I happened to wander outside. Off to one side, I was surprised to spot the speaker leaning up against a wall, cigarette in hand, shaking noticeably. Instinctively, my heart went out to him, but I found myself too intimidated by such a personality to approach him.

Quickly I prayed for guidance, and an unexpected picture came to mind: a young boy with wings, flying upward, then plunging to the ground. I asked the Lord for understanding and at once remembered the Greek myth of Icarus, the boy whose father fashioned wax wings for him with which to reach the heavens; as he approached the sun, however, his wings melted, and he plummeted to his death. Icarus could be seen as a pagan example of the prototype Adam, who aspired to be like God and fell into sin -- and therefore death -- by eating the forbidden fruit.

I decided to bind a spirit of pride over the speaker, then pray for humility within and protection without. A few years later, I read a newspaper interview in which that speaker discussed circumstances under which it might be 'helpful' for a therapist to have sex with a client.

Today, I would be more likely to continue praying for him, and if that same word of danger through pride persisted, I would make an effort to contact him, simply to pass on the warning as I had received it, allowing him to draw his own conclusions. That night, however, I was aware only of a special alertness in my spirit and a sense of power as I prayed for the speaker.

After I had finished praying for the anxious speaker, I felt as if I had done such as a good job that I wanted to celebrate and even reward myself. The others with me at the event were going for pizza afterward, and I prayed, 'What about it, Lord?' The only sense I received was, 'Good job, My son! Enjoy!' And so I did, having several slices.

Dalbey provides an excellent example of someone in tune with the Lord.

Finding purpose in life

For many people, finding your purpose in life is challenging. John Eldredge, on pp. 200-201 of his book "Wild at Heart," shares a story about how God communicated to him related to his life's purpose:

Several years ago I was thumbing through the introduction of a book when I ran across a sentence that changed my life. God is intimately personal with us and he speaks in ways that are peculiar to our own quirky hearts -- not just through the Bible, but through the whole of creation. To Stasi he speaks through movies. To Craig he speaks through rock and roll (he called me the other day after listening to 'Running Through the Jungle' to say he was fired up to go study the Bible). God's word to me comes in many ways -- through sunsets and friends and films and music and wilderness and books. But he's got an especially humorous thing going with me and books. I'll be browsing through a secondhand book shop when out of a thousand volumes one will say, 'Pick me up' -- just like Augustine in his 'Confessions.' Tolle legge -- take up and read. Like a master fly fisherman God cast his fly to this cruising trout. In the introduction to the book that I rose to this day, the author (Gil Bailie) shares a piece of advice given to him some years back by a spiritual mentor:

Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs in people who have come alive.

I was struck dumb. It could have been Balaam's donkey, for all I was concerned. Suddenly my life up till that point made sense in a sickening sort of way; I realized I was living a script written for me by someone else. All my life I had been asking the world to tell me what to do with myself. This is different from seeking counsel or advice; what I wanted was freedom from responsibility and especially freedom from risk.

We cannot rely on others to tell us who we should be. We need to rely on God and his plans for us.

Preparing for your children

I recently took my son on a canoeing trip with some other dads and their sons on the Namekagon River in Wisconsin.

I have been deliberate about helping my son along his journey to manhood. One book that has been helpful in my teaching is "Boyhood and Beyond" by Bob Schultz.

According to the book, Schultz recommends that boys start to think in their teenage years about what they want their kids to be like. Schultz learned this from God when asking what to teach his daughter:

On January 11, 1978, God gave us our first child. That evening my wife went to bed early. Our daughter Molly lay beside me on the couch. I watched her like any new dad would, thoroughly amazed that she belonged to me. I knew that I was responsible for her life. She was under my care, to protect, to provide for, and to train. Never having children before, I felt somewhat overwhelmed. 'What will become of her life?' I wondered. I purposed at that moment to plan her education.

I picked up my Bible. Beginning in Proverbs, I read, looking for things to teach her. After an hour I was getting nowhere. I couldn't put my random thoughts into any sort of plan. 'God,' I asked, 'what do I teach my daughter?'

He gently answered in my heart, 'Be what you want her to be.' I didn't expect that answer. I was thinking about molding her; God was thinking about molding me. 'She will be what you are, not what you try to teach her.'

In general, children act the way that their parents act. They follow their parents' example. It's never too early to think about the example that you want to make for your children, as that will influence their children and beyond.

Conflict at a wedding reception

Weddings can be glorious and exciting. Marriage, however, can be downright difficult. On p. 195 of "Wild at Heart," John Eldredge shares how both he and his wife felt hurt and disappointment resurface while at a friend's wedding reception. Rather than succumb to Satan's attack, John prayed about his marriage:

Slowly, almost imperceptibly, the wave began to lift. My thoughts and emotions quieted down to a more normal size. Clarity was returning. The campfire was just a campfire again. Jesus, you know the pain and disappointment in my heart. What would you have me do? (The bar was no longer an option, but I was still planning to just go straight to my room for the rest of the night.) I want you to go back in there and ask your wife to dance. I knew he was right; I knew that somewhere down deep inside that's what my true heart would want to do. But the desire still seemed so far away. I lingered for five more minutes, hoping he had another option for me. He remained silent, but the assault was over and the bonfire was only embers. Once more I knew the man I wanted to be.

John went back to the wedding reception and asked his wife to dance. They had a glorious -- and exciting -- evening.

Battling demons

As we draw closer to God, we also put ourselves on the spiritual warfare battlefield. While Jesus gives us authority to cast out demons, it might not be our place in certain instances. Consider Gordon Dalbey's story from his book "No Small Snakes: A Journey Into Spiritual Warfare" of trying to counter the demons in Los Angeles:

When I dashed downstairs 20 minutes later to drive to the nursing home, to my shock I found that my car had been burglarized. My $300 guitar (that's in 1979 dollars) and recently repaired car stereo were both gone. I called the police at once, but they could offer no help by that time; in fact, when I reported my address, the dispatcher was surprised. 'We hardly ever get a theft call in that neighborhood!' he declared.

Hanging up in anger, I realized that the enemy had taken away two important weapons that I had been wielding against him: the tape deck with which I played praise songs, and my guitar with which I was even then writing more musical ammunition. How could this have happened, Lord? I cried out.

Simmering quietly, I sensed the answer: 'Don't ever again step out beyond your calling as you did last night.' For an individual to challenge the huge demonic strongholds over Los Angeles, as I had done, was at best naive and at worst suicidal. I was blessed only to have lost a guitar and tape deck for such foolhardiness. That night, I encouraged the speaker to clarify this point in order to save others from my jarring experience.

Since that time, Dalbey has been asking God if he has authority in an area before challenging demons. Dalbey has discovered that he has authority over his family and over people who give him authority by calling for counsel, asking for prayer, or attending one of his conferences.

Jesus Is everywhere

As Jesus is omnipresent, it shouldn't come as a surprise when he talks to us. He's infinitely creative, though -- which often takes us off guard. Consider this experience related by John Eldredge in his book "Beautiful Outlaw: Experiencing the Playful, Disruptive, Extravagant Personality of Jesus" (p. 184):

Another friend, Leslie, was traveling in Germany and had the privilege of seeing the renowned Oberammergau Passion Play. 'All the villagers play parts in the story,' she explained. 'For nine years they are woodcarvers and then the tenth they take on a whole new part; the men grow beards and let their hair get long.' The play is three hours in the morning, followed by a long break, and then it continues in the afternoon. She wrote this account to me:

During my break I spent quite a bit of time in one particular shop. The woodcarver himself gave me a detailed explanation of his carvings. He had a head full of long brown hair and some woman asked him if he was in the play. 'Yes,' he replied. I thought, To whom am I speaking??? Peter, James, John, Judas...Jesus?! The moment I thought his name is was as if the Lord was saying to me, You recognize me on the stage in the part you know so well, but do you recognize me in the shop? Have you so compartmentalized your life between sacred and secular, church and business, Sunday and the rest of the week that when I am out there you no longer recognize me? I realized at that moment that I could walk into church on Sunday and know what to expect because I know the story. I could see Jesus in that setting. Then I would leave and go out into my own world and leave him in first-century Palestine. I couldn't recognize him in the shop.

Expect to encounter Jesus in your life. . .not just on Sunday, and not just at church.

Pray for men

I'm always curious how authors come up with ideas for their books. I recently started reading "Healing the Masculine Soul" by Gordon Dalbey. In the introduction (pp. xxii - xxiii), Dalbey shares how he felt that God was encouraging him to minister to men:

I first realized this following a church showing of the antiabortion film 'The Silent Scream.' Deeply touched by the film, the audience of perhaps a hundred men and women moved into prayer. When the pastor invited individual prayers aloud, one person prayed for the young pregnant women; others prayed for the parents of these women, for the doctors and nurses at abortion clinics, for the unborn babies themselves, and for the nation's conscience. As I sat, head bowed, my spirit agreed with all these prayers. And yet a restless uneasiness prodded me. Something was missing, overlooked. Father, I prayed, is there something else, something maybe even more key to the issue than what's being mentioned?

Almost at once the words burst forth in my mind: Pray for the men! No one is recognizing that without a man to impregnate the woman, the abortion issue would not exist. The men are the problem, and no one even recognizes the need for My transforming hand upon them. Even if a woman agrees or even seeks sexual intercourse, she cannot force herself upon the man. It is he who has the ultimate responsibility to say No, and it is he whom I therefore hold ultimately accountable.

OK, Lord, I prayed. How shall I pray for the men?

In my heart, I sensed a clear answer. The men are not submitted to Me. They have become passive in the face of responsibility. They are not living in response to Me; they have given up the ability to respond, that is, their response-ability. Pray that the men surrender to Me, that they would receive My heart of caring for women, that the spirit of passivity would be bound in them and they would walk in responsibility.

When I spoke this prayer aloud, a unanimous murmur of approval and Amens! swept the room.

So, in Dalbey's case, God encouraged Him to pray for men. I'm thankful that Dalbey followed God's word and took it even further by writing his books.

Presence of Jesus

Jesus is omnipresent -- he is everywhere that we go. On page 183 of "Beautiful Outlaw: Experiencing the Playful, Disruptive, Extravagant Personality of Jesus," author John Eldredge shares the story of a friend who feels a little embarrassed about listening to "New Age Jazz":

At times I've felt a little odd and maybe even guilty listening to this genre. But as I was walking out to my car from a particularly difficult sales call, I was asking Him to give me peace and rest. I asked if He minded that I listened to this station. As I got in the car, I sensed Him saying, Oh no, that's fine, I'm here, too. I started the car, punched in my station, and on came an instrumental of 'Fairest Lord Jesus.' I said, laughing, 'Ah, so You are here!'

I love how creative Jesus is. We can expect Him to show up in our lives anytime, anywhere.

Hearing the voice of God

God wants to have a relationship with us. He tries to communicate with us, but there often can be

issues on our end that make it difficult for Him to get through.

At church recently, the pastor talked about listening to God's voice.

There are certain issues with hearing God's voice (Psalm 32:9, James 5:7, Psalm 37):

• The issue of going our own way
• The issue of trust
• The issue of obedience
• The issue of patience
• The issue of busyness

God speaks to us in several key ways (Psalm 119:105, Acts 16:7, 2 Peter 1:21, Proverbs 12:15):

• The Bible
• The Holy Spirit
• Prayer
• The church

 How do we know it is God speaking?

• Agrees with scripture
• Brings glory to God
• Brings a sense of peace
• Confirmed by mature Christians
• Brings unity
• Preserves sanity

Take the time to slow down and hear the voice of God. There are Bible verses on hearing God -- he does want to talk to you! Read some of the other posts from this blog; there are tons of examples of God speaking to people.

We need love

In his monthly letter, John Eldredge recently wrote about love. Why love? Because God told him to write about that topic:

Over the past several months -- months which for me have had their fill of middle-of-the-night-spiritual trials -- I have often asked God, 'What do I pray, Lord? What do I need?' And his answer has been, My love. That my Love would fill your heart, fill you and surround you. And my response has been along the lines of 'Really?' It seems like guidance would go a long ways right now, or breakthrough, or angelic help or how about power and glory?

God seems to feel that love is far more urgent, or necessary.

I found myself drawn to Ephesians 3:14-19. . .the last sentence grabbed me: 'That you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.' Yes, that's what I want! I want to be filled with all the fullness of God!

May we all be filled with the fullness of God.

Come away with me

I, like many Americans, often go through my day obsessed with the to-do list. The sermon at church

last Sunday by one of the pastors had an important message:  rest and be still.

You see, the pastor went into work one day, planning to complete the to-do list. But her computer was moving very slowly -- how frustrating! How was she going to make any progress on her list?

Then she heard God:  "Come away with me."

"But Lord," she replied, "I have all of this stuff to do."

"What do you think about resting with me," He said.

So she packed up her stuff, went home, and rested. . .and it was wonderful.

God does want to restore and transform us. By giving us the gift of Sabbath, we get an opportunity to rest in God's presence. Check out Genesis 2:1-3, Exodus 20:9-10 and Matthew 11:28 in the Bible regarding the importance of rest.

Enjoy the gift of rest today. One book that the pastor highly recommended is "Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence" by Sarah Young.

Hitchhiker stories

In today's Star Tribune, there's a narrative by reporter Bill McAuliffe, who decided to hitchhike from Minneapolis to Twisp, Wash.

McAuliffe has many interesting stories of the people who picked him up along his journey, including a man named Dale:

Next surprise: Dale, who later told me he'd recently gotten out of prison, asked if I was hungry or thirsty. Which is how we ended up at his church picnic, just up the road in Clearwater, Minn., before he brought me onward to St. Cloud.

When I asked Dale why he'd picked me up, he said God had told him to. I'm not what you'd call a man of faith, but that's what Dale left me with: faith that rides would come, faith that I'd get somewhere, even if it wasn't where I'd intended. 

It sounded like McAuliffe had a fabulous adventure. He wrote daily updates on his trip at http://60West.blogspot.com.

The house of God

Determining how much to give to one's church that is in the midst of a building expansion can be a

tricky proposition.

For many people, as well as the church, it requires a leap of faith.

At River Heights Vineyard Church in Inver Grove Heights, Minn., the church leadership feel that God is calling the church to serve more people by serving meals. As a result, River Heights Vineyard Church has embarked on on a campaign to raise money for its new Community Healing Center.

One church member shared her experience with figuring out how much to pledge at a recent church service. She said that she and her husband were remodeling their kitchen, so money was relatively tight. She struggled with how much to give to River Heights Vineyard Church for the Community Healing Center.

Then she heard God's voice. "If you take care of my house, I'll take care of yours."

That made it easier for her to move forward in faith.

Donate to the River Heights Vineyard Church Community Healing Center online.

Courageous one

In October, I wrote about how I heard God tell me at a Wild at Heart Boot Camp that his name for me is "Brave One."

An interesting affirmation of this word happened recently while at church. The guitar player on the worship team came up to me after the service. He said, "Brant, while I was up on stage, I looked in your direction, and God told me a word for you."

"What was the word?" I replied.

"Courageous One," he said.

Thank you, Lord.

Prayer in spiritual warfare

We live in a world of spiritual warfare. In "No Small Snakes," author Gordon Dalbey describes an

experience with a particularly frustrating member of his church, Liz:

If any situation bore a potential for conflict, she seemed to know supernaturally how to spark it. My training in psychology and knowledge of her painful childhood suggested several reasons for her disruptive manner, and for some time I compassionately tried to overlook it. Yet as she grew even quicker to assume conflict at church events, my 'pure compassion' gave way to an equally pure anger.

That night, we needed to discuss forming a new worship committee, and Liz -- in her late sixties -- urged three women over 65 for the three-member committee. At that, my inner leash broke, and I cried out in my spirit, Lord, what can I do about this woman? I know You want me to love her, but what she does is making me furious!

In that moment of surrender to God, I sensed the enemy at work. At once, I confessed and released my anger at her and asked God to show me through His Holy Spirit what was going on. The word contention came to mind, and I silently bound a spirit of contention in Liz. She became noticeably subdued, but I could see that she was nevertheless chafing at the bit to stir further conflict.

I asked God for a spirit of wisdom and then spoke to the committee, saying simply that we needed a cross-section of worship sensibilities, which three women in the same age bracket would not provide. Liz huffed and was about to speak, but I silently bound the contention again and others picked up the discussion.

After praying for her for several weeks, I finally knew I had to talk openly with Liz and went to see her. Thanking her for her years of service to the church, I then told her straightforwardly, with no anger, that her contentious attitude was becoming an obstacle to open discussion at the church. I hoped that such as truth-telling would spur her own will to cooperate more with others at the church -- though I never told her about my prayers of binding the enemy in her. As I anticipated, she was upset that I 'would say such a thing,' but I prayed to hold my ground, and she listened.

Thereafter, I demonstrated my compassion for her by thanking her when she was either supportive or helpfully critical in other settings, and by continuing to bind the enemy's power over her. In time, those who had before come to me complaining of Liz's manner told me how much nicer she had become.

Pay attention to your interactions with people. Sometimes there may be more at work than we notice on the surface.

Saint Augustine's vision of Jesus

In "Beautiful Outlaw: Experiencing the Playful, Disruptive, Extravagant Personality of Jesus," John Eldredge shares an interesting way that Saint Augustine encountered Jesus (pp. 181-183):

[Saint Augustine] was quite an accomplished sinner, by his own admission, a man we would send to a recovery center for sexual addictions. Though he had the opportunity to sit under the preaching of Ambrose, and though his own mother was praying night and day -- a most effective weapon for turning a wayward soul -- he was bound to his darkness. 'I was in torment,' he wrote. Until that fateful day when in a garden, he heard God speak -- through the voice of a child over a wall:

Somehow I flung myself down beneath a fig tree and gave way to the tears which now streamed from my eyes, the sacrifice that is acceptable to you.... For I felt that I was still the captive of my sins, and in my misery I kept crying, 'How long shall I go on saying, 'tomorrow, tomorrow'? Why not now? Why not make an end of my ugly sins at this moment?' I was asking myself these questions, weeping all the while with the most bitter sorrow in my heart, when all at once I heard the singsong voice of a child in a nearby house. Whether it was the voice of a boy or a girl I cannot say, but again and again it repeated the refrain 'Take it and read, take it and read.' At this I looked up, thinking hard whether there was any kind of game in which children used to chant words like these, but I could not remember ever hearing them before. I stemmed my flood of tears and stood up, telling myself that this could only be a divine command to open my book of Scripture and read the first passage on which my eyes should fall.

He does. They are the very words he needed to hear from God. And in that moment, which would end up echoing throughout the world, 'You converted me to yourself.' Take it can read, or take up and read, depending on the translator. Tolle lege in the Latin. I think we've missed the playfulness of this. Augustine is a voracious reader. Books are his language. Jesus -- who sent the fisherman fishing and the tax collector to hand out charity -- tells Augustine to get up and read. Open the book, you bookworm. Through the singsong chant of a child, which adds an even more playful touch. Jesus was singing his tune.

I find it thoroughly fascinating the way that Jesus connects with each of us individually.

Forgiving God

On p. 163 of "Beautiful Outlaw: Experiencing the Playful, Disruptive, Extravagant Personality of Jesus," John Eldredge shares the story of a friend who needed to forgive God:

A friend of ours called to ask for prayer. We met, not quite sure what was on the agenda, but willing to help if we could. She said she didn't feel Jesus anymore. Didn't want to feel him anymore. Surprising words from a woman who once had a pretty intimate relationship with Jesus. She began to talk about the suffering she and her family had been through -- bankruptcy, losing everything, and then church folk blaming them for bringing it on themselves through some unconfessed sin. (Which was not the case -- this was during the economic collapse of 2009. Can you see why I hate the religious fog?)

As she opened up the well of suffering in her soul, I could feel the loving, concerned presence of Jesus in the room. With all the intention you see in him toward the woman at the well, or the rich young ruler, I could feel him getting in position to rescue this heart. Rather than jumping to offer encouragement, counsel, or advice, we simply prayed. 'Jesus, what are you saying in response to all this?' I heard his loving voice very clearly:

You think I did this.

It was the same strong, kind voice I now see him using all the time in the Gospels, but never saw before because I was watching television with the sound turned off. I had removed his personality from the stories. He said it again:

You think I did this.

Our friend was speechless. The 'faithful church girl' part of her heart didn't want to admit what she was really feeling. But pain has a way of stripping all pretense. 'Yes, I do,' she said.

You need to forgive me.

Now that really blew her away. Forgive God? This idea is going to cause some readers to freak out. Just listen for a moment. If you are holding something in your heart against Jesus -- the loss of someone you love, a painful memory from your past, simply the way your life has turned out -- if you are holding that against Jesus, well, then, it is between you and Jesus. And no amount of ignoring it or being faithful in other areas of your life is going to make it go away. In order to move forward, you are going to need to forgive Jesus for whatever these things are.

When I lost my job in 2010, I needed to forgive Jesus. I was really mad. But I understand that it wasn't his doing; it was the responsibility of my employer at the time.

Tomb of Jesus Christ

In "Beautiful Outlaw: Experiencing the Playful, Disruptive, Extravagant Personality of Jesus," John Eldredge shares an amazing story of a woman named Jolie and her encounter with Jesus (pp. 151-153):

Jolie wrote me after she attended her first event held by Christian women -- something she was very reluctant to do. Understandably. She longed to experience Jesus at the retreat, but she hadn't felt him at all. When it was announced Saturday night that they would be having an extended time of worship, she was disappointed. 'My first thoughts were, This is going to be so boring. But I began as instructed -- I tried to think of myself sitting at Jesus' feet and worshipping him.' This is where her story gets really good.

'Suddenly I started to see pictures. I was standing at the foot of the cross.'

Whoa. Many of us who love Jesus are brought to tears merely by a reenactment of the crucifixion. A simple cross can stop us in our tracks. Can you imagine seeing the actual event?! Jesus took Jolie there personally.

'He looked down and said, This is for you.'

She was simply trying to begin a practice of loving Jesus. It opened her heart to experience him in a pretty dramatic way. He came to her personally, took her in real time to Golgotha. He spoke to her deepest deception, wounding, and fear. This is for you. I am speechless -- have you ever heard anything more beautiful?

But her story goes on. 'The picture changed and I was standing outside the tomb. Jesus emerged and held out his hand and said, 'Come with me.' There was invitation and desire in his eyes. I took his hand and we walked together. He touched my face.' Doesn't it remind you of the way Jesus was with the women he loved -- with Mary of Bethany, the Samaritan divorcee, and the woman with the alabaster jar, whom Jesus defended in front of a crowd of Pharisees? Invitation and desire in his eyes.

'He told me he had a gift for me. He brought out his hand from behind his back and there was my husband holding his hand. The three of us danced together. We came to a mountain. As we started up, there were places I couldn't get past and my husband helped me, and places he couldn't get past and I helped him. Lastly we came to a place neither of us could pass and Jesus helped us. At the top of the mountain there were lots of people milling about. We looked at Jesus and he simply said, 'Introduce me.''

That's quite an amazing experience.

Reading the Bible with the damned

In "Reading the Bible with the Damned," Bob Ekblad, executive director of Tierra Nueva and the People's Seminary in Burlington, Wash., provides insight on how to share the Bible with the unchurched. Ekblad finds that prisoners, illegal immigrants, drug dealers and the damned (which could mean all of us) connect with the Bible's stories of God's love for underdogs.

He has numerous stories of breaking through in prison small groups, such as this instance on p. 70:

Week after week I continue my studies and one-on-one visits. I keep asking the individuals who are on the journey whether they are sensing God's presence with them. In the Bible studies I regularly ask if people are hearing anything in their reading of Scripture that seems to be coming to them from God.

'Not yet. I still have not heard anything. I don't feel anything,' some keep saying. 'But it's not a problem. Who knows when it will happen?' one of them tells me with an air of confidence.

Then one day it happens. Someone tells of sensing God's presence. God has answered a prayer. This person has been touched in some way. I watch faith grow, and often get letters from people who have long since gone to prison, describing their conversion, their having been met by Jesus.

While Ekblad may be called to be part of prison ministry, others may be called to share God's Word where they are planted.

Get in or get out

On p. 192-193 of "Wild at Heart," John Eldredge relates how marriage involves a battle:

Will you fight for her? That's the question Jesus asked me many years ago, right before our tenth anniversary, right at the time I was wondering what had happened to the woman I married. You're on the fence, John, he said. Get in or get out. I knew what he was saying -- stop being a nice guy and act like a warrior. Play the man. I brought flowers, took her to dinner, and began to move back toward her in my heart. But I knew there was more. That night, before we went to bed, I prayed for Stasi in a way I'd never prayed for her before. Out loud, before all the heavenly hosts, I stepped between her and the forces of darkness that had been coming against her. Honestly, I didn't really know what I was doing, only that I needed to take on the dragon. All hell broke loose. Everything we've learned about spiritual warfare began that night. And you know what happened? Stasi got free, the tower of her depression gave way as I began to truly fight for her.

Men, we need to fight for our wives over and over.

Making the most of a sabbatical

On page 72 of "Beautiful Outlaw," John Eldredge writes about what led him to take a sabbatical. He was physically exhausted, angry with people and felt little hope.

I knew this had to be more than a vacation. The sabbatical would be wasted if I didn't get to the bottom of the issues that caused me to need a sabbatical in the first place. It needed to be open-heart surgery. But my inner world felt like an Oriental rug of issues so intertwined I couldn't sort it out. Early one morning, while I was still lying in bed, looking at the ceiling and asking God to come for me, Jesus asked, Would you like to know what it is? 'Oh, yes, please, Lord,' I said. This is all one thing. Then a pause for effect. I'm thinking, one thing -- this is all just one thing?! You don't look to me -- you look to yourself.

The truth of it was indisputable the moment Jesus finished speaking. All the years of striving, sacrifice, loneliness, heroic exertion -- so much of what I took to be noble about my life was suddenly exposed as godless self-reliance. Utterly godless. I felt naked, like a man lying on an examining table who had just been shown the X-rays of his bone cancer. It was horrifying. And wonderful. Finally, the truth was out.

Sometimes open-heart surgery to take a pause and look at Jesus is what we need.