Archive for the ‘Following Jesus’ Category
TRUST…in the slow work of GOD
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I saw this on Ian Cron’s blog a couple of days ago and thought it was so fitting, especially in light of my “Becoming” post from a few days ago. It’s a prayer from the Jesuit, Fr Teihard de Chardin.
(Speaking of Jesuits, I just started reading a book this morning entitled, Awareness: The Perils and Opportunities of Reality by Jesuit priest, Anthony de Mello.)
Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything
to reach the end without delay.
We would like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something
unknown, something new.
And yet, it is the law of all progress
that it is made by passing through
some stages of instability -
and that it may take a very long time.And so I think it is with you;
your ideas mature gradually – let them grow,
let them shape themselves, without undue haste.
Don’t try to force them on,
as though you could be today what time,
(that is to say, grace and circumstances
acting on your own good will)
will make of you tomorrow.Only God could say what this new spirit
gradually forming in you will be.
Give our Lord the benefit of believing
that his hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
in suspense and incomplete.
Prayer of St. Francis
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Here is the Prayer of St. Francis in its entirety:
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon:
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope
where there is darkness, light
where there is sadness, joy
O divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life. Amen.
Audio link for week #1 of “Prayers of the Saints: Prayer of St. Francis”.
Prayers of The Saints
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About three or four years ago, I began reading and studying the lives of many of the great forefathers, foremothers, leaders, and saints of the church. People like Blaise Pascal, Thomas Merton, Thomas Aquinas, John Calvin, Teresa of Avila, Martin Luther, Francis of Assisi, Thomas a Kempis, Augustine, Julian of Norwich, George Fox, John of the Cross, and others.
As I’ve studied and learned from these people’s lives, I’ve noticed my own faith journey take on a richer and more substantial depth – for probably two reasons: One, I was raised in a Pentecostal environment that tended to put a much heavier focus on what God was doing “now” as opposed to what God had done hundreds of years ago.
Secondly, the more I’ve learned and studied these great followers of Jesus, the more I’ve come to realize that the majority of them have struggled with many similar challenges that so many of us struggle with in regards to our faith today. Imagine that! As young, emerging leaders, our struggles and challenges with faith, church, humanity, and God are really not as unique as we might be tempted to think they are.
Now of course, are some of these people controversial? Yes, of course they are! And for most of them, more so today than when they were alive. To the fundamentalists, that’s a problem. To me, it’s actually quite an encouragement. 
All this to say that this weekend we are starting a new series at The Orchard entitled, “Prayers of the Saints”. The series was inspired by a music project of the same name that I discovered about a year ago from the folks at Trinity Anglican Mission (formerly Trinity Vineyard) in Atlanta. The project is a series of prayers from various saints that have been turned into songs. You can purchase the album via iTunes here.
Over these next few weeks we are going to sing, pray, and learn from these prayers. I can’t wait. They are both personally challenging and theologically rich. We’d love for you to join us. Or you can follow along via The Orchard’s podcast here.
Monday Morning from Wicker Park
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It’s Monday morning and I’m kickin’ it at Filter in Wicker Park (I love WP btw). My eyes are tired and my body is moving SLOW. Looking forward to meeting up with Ben Arment and Jarrett & Jeanne Stevens in a little while. Hard to believe that STORY 2010 is already here.
Since I have way too much to say and not enough time to write it all I’m going to bullet a bunch of stuff…. Here we go.
- Had the privilege of interviewing Dawn Schiller at The Orchard this past weekend. If you’re not familiar with Dawn, you can learn more here. She has an incredible story. The audio is up and available for download here. See photos here.
- Who’s going to be at STORY later this week?
- Lots of stuff coming up this fall that I’m excited about. Will be in Minneapolis, Rockford, Atlanta, and…..I think that’s it for now.
- Enjoyed getting to know Mark Sayers last week. Mark is from Australia and has some good stuff to say.
- Celebrated the lives of two very dear people last week. Charlotte and Bruce…you’ll both be missed. Stirred my grief up a bit for my dad. October 12th will make six years since he passed away. Man…
That’s it….gotta run.
Adoption.
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Mentioned this short film/documentary this past weekend at The Orchard. Love the courage and faith of the Reber’s. May it inspire us all to live the Gospel.
In the City vs. Part OF the City
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Here’s the video I did for The Nine’s where I share about some of the questions and ideas we’ve been journeying through/wrestling with over the last several months.
Would love your thoughts/ideas/comments.
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