Encouragement from Bishop Peak
by Pastor Paul
For an index to digital prayer guides to more than one hundred individual psalms, click here.
NON-PARTISAN PRAYER
by Pastor Paul Dugan
I very much appreciated Pastor Andy’s recent words on our current cultural crisis. They are worth repeating:
“It feels like the world, and our country, is absolutely falling apart right now. We’re in this awful place of injustice and chaos, of needing to express our anger over racism and our lament over our cities being burned and looted, of wanting to protect and defend every person…all lives…people of color and police officers and those who agree with us and those who disagree with us.
So what can we do?
The first thing we do, as followers of Jesus, is to define which conversation we are having and the conversation we are NOT having.
We are NOT having that old, unhelpful conversation between liberals and conservatives, democrats or republicans, or between those who are right and those who are wrong…”
What we need, Pastor Andy proposed, is a kingdom conversation:
“In a kingdom conversation we get to point out all of our sin: the sin of racism, the sin of destruction, the sin of injustice, the sin of shame and blame, the sin of murder, the sin of unforgiveness.
Oh, and by the way, in a kingdom conversation we first point out this sin in ourselves.
A Kingdom conversation starts this way: the problem is me.
A Kingdom conversation starts with confession, not condemnation; repentance, not resentment; listening, not labeling.
When we have a kingdom conversation we get to plan together how to change for the better…”
Click here for Pastor Andy’s full post.
I believe a kingdom conversation begins with kingdom prayers.
How often have you read or listened to the news and found yourself grumpier afterwards? I can relate. I not only get frustrated with the news; I get frustrated with those who frame (or spin) the news. Before I know it, I find myself triggered into an internal debate in my head with those in power- whether it be government or media- getting more and more angry and cynical.
What if you and I were to pause, and pivot that frustration into positive prayers for those in authority? Listen to Paul’s words in 1 Timothy 2:1-3:
I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.
Please note this: Paul wrote this during the time of Roman emperors like Nero, who lit his garden parties with the burning carcasses of Christian human torches. If Paul can call the early church to pray for Nero, you and I can pray for members of the opposing political party.
There is a whole category of psalms that express prayers for those in authority. These are called “royal psalms.” Psalm 72 is a classic example of a royal psalm:
Endow the king with your justice, O God,
the royal son with your righteousness.
May he judge your people in righteousness,
your afflicted ones with justice.
May the mountains bring prosperity to the people,
the hills the fruit of righteousness.
May he defend the afflicted among the people
and save the children of the needy;
may he crush the oppressor.
May he endure[a] as long as the sun,
as long as the moon, through all generations.
May he be like rain falling on a mown field,
like showers watering the earth.
In his days may the righteous flourish
and prosperity abound till the moon is no more. (Ps 72:1-7)
In the Hebrew Bible, royal psalms refer to different situations in which the king is involved: thanksgiving for victory over enemies, prayer for the king’s safety before battle, thanksgiving for protection during battle, the occasion of the king’s marriage, the king’s ascent to the throne, and vows made by the king to God. Examples of royal psalms: Psalm 20, 45, 61, 72, 89, 101, 110, 138.
Christians take up these psalms as they pray for those who are in authority in both the church and culture.
Here’s how you can pray your own royal psalm for our leaders today:
Pray for those in authority in the church:
for their spiritual, emotional and relational health and growth…
for protection in temptation, strength in weakness, and victory over the enemy…
that they use their authority to serve in love, under the authority of King Jesus…
that the life and mission of the church flourishes under their leadership…
Pray for those in authority in our culture:
for God to raise up men and women at every level of government to lead with courage, compassion, competence and integrity…
for those in positions of authority in all sectors of culture: family, education, the courts, business, media, the arts, non-profits, and healthcare…
that leaders in each of these areas recognize God’s authority in their work, and seek the well-being of the community over personal gain. ..
that those who are Christ-followers in these areas exhibit the love and integrity of Jesus in their work…
This is part eight in a ten-part series on how to pray the psalms. To return to part one, click here. To go to part nine click here.
The Spirit, the Kingdom, and Race
Why I believe we need a new Pentecost today.
by Pastor Paul Dugan
To return to part one of the Luke-Acts series, click here.
GRATITUDE HEALS
Psalms of Thanksgiving
Learning to Pray from the Psalms, Part 7
(Click here for part one)
by Pastor Paul Dugan
Did you know that gratitude is proven to contribute to greater mental, relational, and spiritual health? Thanksgiving is a key to human well-being! This is the conclusion of a growing number of respected scientific studies, ex. Psychology Today, and Berkeley.
No wonder one that so many of the psalms are songs of thanksgiving.
The Psalms provide a “playlist” for all dimensions of the human experience, for all parts of the human soul. This playlist includes a wide variety of genres that help us gather the whole of our lives in honest and grateful prayer before God.
The Psalms have changed my life. They have become medicine for my soul.
Today we explore the Psalms of Thanksgiving.
Psalm 30 is a classic example of a thanksgiving psalm:
I will exalt you, Lord, for you lifted me out of the depths and did not let my enemies gloat over me. Lord my God, I called to you for help, and you healed me. You, Lord, brought me up from the realm of the dead; you spared me from going down to the pit.
Sing the praises of the Lord, you his faithful people; praise his holy name. For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. (Psalm 30:1-5)
The psalms of thanksgiving in the Hebrew bible arise in response to a good harvest, healing of disease, victory in battle, deliverance from enemies, trouble, and danger.
Common elements of psalms of thanks:
a. description of past trouble,
b. remembrance of their cry for help,
c. description of God’s wonderful deliverance,
d. a call to respond in praise and thanks for the Lord’s mighty deeds.
Examples of psalms of thanksgiving: Psalm 9, 32, 34, 67, 92, 107, 116, 118, 124, 126, 138
How to craft your own psalm of thanksgiving:
Describe a past trouble…
and how you called on the Lord
Describe the Lord’s deliverance…
Based on his deliverance, how can you encourage others to praise and thank him?
This is part seven in a ten-part series on how to pray the psalms. Part eight is here. To return to part one, click here.
For an index to digital prayer guides to more than one hundred individual psalms, click here.
JESUS INCOGNITO
Luke 24: How God shows up along our journey toward faith
by Pastor Paul Dugan
Spiritual vagabonds around the world are finding their ‘Emmaus Road' on Alpha. Alpha is an eight-week dinner series (free) exploring faith in an atmosphere of honesty and fun. To learn more about how you can be a guest or helper on Alpha this fall, click here or contact Pastor Paul.
What Story Are You In?
Learning to Pray from the Psalms, Part 6: The Psalms of Sacred History
(Click here for part one)
by Pastor Paul Dugan
The Psalms provide a “playlist” for all dimensions of the human experience, for all parts of the human soul. This playlist includes a wide variety of genres that help us gather the whole of our lives in honest and grateful prayer before God.
The Psalms have changed my life. They have become medicine for my soul.
Today we explore the Psalms of Sacred History
Psalm 78 is a classic example of a sacred history psalm:
My people, hear my teaching; listen to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth with a parable; I will utter hidden things, things from of old— things we have heard and known, things our ancestors have told us. We will not hide them from their descendants; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done. He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel,which he commanded our ancestors to teach their children, so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands. (Psalm 78:1-7)
“The way we understand human life depends on what conception we have of the human story. What is the real story of which my life story is a part?” (Leslie Newbigin)
Your life is a story. Like a good story, it has a beginning, middle, and end. It includes elements of tension, conflict, surprise, and resolution along the way. I cannot know you apart from knowing your story.
And your story has been shaped by a larger story. Every person’s story is being shaped by an overarching narrative. That narrative began with your family of origin. We cannot avoid the shaping power of family- for good and for bad. Your story has also been shaped your generation’s story. For example, my generation (the “baby boomer generation) has been deeply impacted by the Vietnam/Watergate stories. Millennials have been marked by the 9/11 story. Then there are larger cultural stories, like the Enlightenment story (“progress” by education, science and technology), the Marxist story (“progress” by revolution), the Consumer story (“progress” by constant consumption), the Postmodern story (“progress” by deconstructing all other stories).
Whether we like it or not, whether we are conscious of it or not, for good or for bad, we are all being shaped by larger stories.
But sooner or later these stories betray us. Their promises of the “good life” come crashing down, leading to cynicism and despair. But the crash of stories can also be a gift, a birth of a new story. Great spiritual awakenings have taken place in the ruins of cultural stories… as generations have rediscovered a better narrarive- the Story of God.
The Story of God is the only story that is true enough, honest enough, and large enough to make sense of all our messy stories. The Bible is best read as a single unfolding Story leading to Jesus. And the psalms of sacred history help re-connect us with that Story.
The psalms of sacred history rehearse the Story of the mighty acts of God in the midst of human folly and weakness. They are psalms of “His-story” and “our story.” They tend to be longer than other psalms, recounting in chronological order many of the saving acts of God in the forming of his people and delivering them from their bondage.
Examples of sacred history psalms include Psalm 76, 78, 81, 105, 106, 114, 135 and 136.
These psalms, like the whole Bible, invite us to enter into God’s Story and to discover our part in it. But, just a warning: it’s a messy story. Eugene Peterson writes in the introduction to The Message translation of the Bible:
“Some are also surprised that Bible reading does not introduce us to a “nicer” world. This biblical world is decidedly not an ideal world, the kind we see advertised in travel posters. Suffering and injustice and ugliness are not purged from the world in which God works and loves and saves. Nothing is glossed over. God works patiently and deeply, but often in hidden ways, in the mess of our humanity and history…”
The psalms of sacred history not only invite us into the messiness of God’s Story. They invite us to pass on that Story to the next generation.
So, how do we tell our story? I have found it helpful to frame stories through the four great movements of the biblical narrative: Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration.
Here are some suggestions on how to write your own “sacred history psalm”:
Creation: What have been some influences that gave you a sense of value and worth as a child/young person?
Give thanks for those gifts.
Fall: What were some of the ways you first experienced the pain and brokenness of sin? (your own and other's sin)
Lament the pain. Confess your failures.
How did you attemp to fix this pain?
Redemption: How did the Holy Spirit lead you to put your trust in Christ?
Who/what did God use in this process?
What are some changes Jesus began to make in your life?
Give praise and thanks to God for your redemption!
Restoration (your unfolding story): What is the Holy Spirit doing in your life right now?
What do you want him to change in you / in your world? (be specific)
What aspect of the new heavens and new earth are you most looking forward to?
Tell him your longings.
This is part six in a ten-part series on how to pray the psalms. Part seven is here.
For an index to digital prayer guides for more than one hundred individual psalms, click here.
LOVE SUFFERS
A Kingdom Conversation vs Something Far Worse
Beloved church,
It feels like the world, and our country, is absolutely falling apart right now. We’re in this awful place of injustice and chaos, of needing to express our anger over racism and our lament over our cities being burned and looted, of wanting to protect and defend every person…all lives…people of color and police officers and those who agree with us and those who disagree with us.
So what can we do?
The first thing we do, as followers of Jesus, is to define which conversation we are having and the conversation we are NOT having.
We are NOT having that old, unhelpful conversation between liberals and conservatives, democrats or republicans, or between those who are right and those who are wrong.
The moment we engage in that conversation…now all of us are covered in feces. Why? Because in that old conversation there is always an ideological side which is wrong, evil, deaf, or blind. In that conversation there is always a winner and a loser. In that conversation we divvy up the truth, with conservatives and liberals each getting to claim where they are right. The examples are too numerous to list. Nothing gets solved. Instead of connection, there is division. Instead of healing, there is more resentment.
In the Kingdom of God, Jesus owns all the truth. A kingdom conversation allows for the diagnosis of a deep hurt or injustice or wound or division…not for the sake of condemnation…but for the sake of healing.
In a kingdom conversation we get to point out all of our sin: the sin of racism, the sin of destruction, the sin of injustice, the sin of shame and blame, the sin of murder, the sin of unforgiveness.
Oh, and by the way, in a kingdom conversation we first point out this sin in ourselves.
A Kingdom conversation starts this way: the problem is me.
A Kingdom conversation starts with confession, not condemnation; repentance, not resentment; listening, not labeling.
When we have a kingdom conversation we get to plan together how to change for the better.
A Kingdom conversation allows us to reject the profiling and racism against minorities and also reject the hatred of all police offers. We can lament what we have lost in the injustice of the oppressed and the injustice of riots.
We see a kingdom conversation In the Gospel of Luke, chapter 6. Jesus encounters a man oppressed because of his disability. His hand is shriveled, crippled, not working. He did nothing wrong. Maybe he has cerebral palsy; maybe it was an injury. We don’t know. But everyone blamed this man for his disability with the whispers of “It must be his fault….Why doesn’t he stop sinning?…What did his parents do?…Clearly he deserves this…If he just had more faith…”.
And who is condemning the man? The congregation, or the community, wanted to have that old, unhelpful conversation where someone is wrong, where feces is thrown, where someone is to blame. More specifically, the people in charge were the worst offenders…the religious leaders….you know…me.
Jesus will have none of that. Jesus heals the man. What was the response to this incredible miracle? Fury. Rage. Anger. Violence.
Luke 6:11 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.
Jesus healed the man of his deepest wound knowing full well that it would cost him. It always costs you to bring healing and life and to build something good.
The great deception of ‘that old, unhelpful conversation’ is that you think you’re building something good when you tear someone down. The Kingdom of God is upside down. You create something good when you lay your life down for another.
The staggering good news is our Savior determines to bless us even when it costs him everything. And Jesus will bless you, will provide for you, and will be with you when it costs you to build something beautiful.
So what can we do?
1. Define the conversation. Insist on having a kingdom conversation.
2. Ask questions of yourself each day, for example:
a. Where I might have fallen into "that old" conversation?
Pray: “Jesus, forgive me for my judgements and blindness and resentments . Father, change my hard heart. Holy Spirit, help me to have the kingdom conversation tomorrow, or in this day ahead, to work for what you want, not what I want..”
3. In what relationship might God want to show you were to bring healing? How might you invite Jesus into your conversations with that person(s) to bring healing?
4. Each day, forgive. Each day, reject the movement towards apathy or resentment. Each day, ask the Holy Spirit, “Please help me see with Your eyes today, to love with your heart, to speak with your words."
I love you all. I look forward to having Kingdom conversations with you in these uncertain times. I’m praying for you all.
In Christ, Pastor Andy
I NEED WISDOM
How to Pray the Wisdom Psalms
Learning to Pray from the Psalms, Part 5
(Click here for Part 1)
by Pastor Paul Dugan
The Psalms provide a playlist for all dimensions of the human experience, for all parts of the human soul. This playlist includes a wide variety of genres that help us gather the whole of our lives in honest and grateful prayer before God.
The Psalms have changed my life. They have become medicine for my soul.
Today we practice praying the wisdom psalms. Psalm 1 is a classic example (NLT):
1 Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers.
2 But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night.
3 They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.
4 But not the wicked! They are like worthless chaff, scattered by the wind.
5 They will be condemned at the time of judgment. Sinners will have no place among the godly.
6 For the Lord watches over the path of the godly, but the path of the wicked leads to destruction.
Wisdom in the Hebrew Scriptures is not the same thing as ‘smarts.’ It is possible to be a smart fool. Neither is wisdom a ‘secret knowledge’ possessed by a mystically-gifted elite. Wisdom is the practical skill of making good choices in the sight of God, in the everyday stuff of life.
Psalms of wisdom often include proverbs with short memorable sayings, contrasting light with darkness, good with evil, and the righteous with the wicked.
Key words to look for in wisdom psalms: righteous, wicked, wise, foolish, blessed, fear of the Lord, law of the Lord. Examples of psalms of wisdom: Psalm 1, 14, 15, 19, 37, 49, 73, 112, 119, 127, 128, 133.
To listen to a wisdom psalm put to music, click here (Courtesy: The Corner Room).
How to pray your own psalm of wisdom:
"I thank you God for giving us clear boundaries- for defining for us what is true and false, good and evil, wise and foolish. And thank you for giving us the freedom to choose the good!
"I lament the sorrow and pain in my life/world that has resulted from unwise choices...
(yours and others’)
"I bring to you the choices that are in front of me/us today…
(ex, in how I invest my time, my words, my relationships, money, abilities, vocation, body, etc.)
This is part five in a ten-part series on how to pray the psalms. Part six is here.
For an index to digital prayer guides for more than one hundred individual psalms, click here.