Please pray for your Elders

This weekend is the annual Elder retreat. We sequester at Cypress Creek for prayer and fasting, sharing the Lord's Supper together, studying a book together (this year's choice: "The Master Plan of Discipleship"), conducting church business, and visioning for the following year. And for full disclosure: yes, there is some recreation time, too.

There have been a lot of ups and downs in 2009. Some great things happening, and some difficult things, as well. The Elders need wisdom on how to assess all of that, and how to set the direction for the coming year. There will be important decisions made, and so we need the Spirit's guidance.

We ask that the family of DBC be praying for us each day (Thursday, Friday, and Saturday). We can accomplish nothing without the Lord's work in us and through us.

Also, we encourage you to attend the annual meeting on Jan 31 after the worship service. There will be a covered dish lunch, and then our meeting. This is the venue for us to discuss with you the state of the church and the future plans. We welcome your thoughts and input. The quarterly "Fireside Chats" have been productive for building better communication, and we hope that the annual meeting will provide even more communication. The meeting is two-way - the various ministries get to share their highlights and plans, but also they want to hear from you, as well.

This is the Lord's church, first and foremost. After that, it is your church. This is not the Elders' church. This is not my church. It is our church. And our church needs your prayers and your input. We invite you to aid your church especially with praying for the Elder retreat and being a part of the congregational meeting.

Kids, youth, Christmas, mission, skiing, ...

We have a packed next few weeks ... and almost everything involves Betty Ann! She has been working very hard for what's coming up these next few weeks, and I encourage you to show her as much support as you can (helping out, words of encouragement, notes, participating in one of the fundraisers, and so on).

The children and youth will be teaching us the Christmas story on Sunday the 21st. I've read the script, and think that they have a very interesting story to bring to us. Also, please join us Christmas Eve at 6:00 PM for our annual Christmas Eve service. This year will be time of traditional carols and celebrating the valuable gift of God sending His Son to us.

The youth have a Christmas party / progressive dinner planned for Sunday night - thanks to all the families who have opened their homes for part of the meal.

On the 31st, many of our youth are leaving on their mission trip / ski trip. They are taking one day of their trip to pack nutritious meals for the hungry around the world, and then spending some time on the slopes for a good winter break.

As you can see, Betty Ann has her plate full! Please help lighten her load with prayer, encouragement, and helping out.

One important event outside of Betty Ann's direct leadership is the Angel Tree project. We are raising money again this Christmas to provide financial support for the teachers of the Friends of Christ orphanage in Ahero, Kenya. Please take one of the envelopes, prayerfully consider an amount to give, and then put it into the brown offering box. As money is raised, we add ornaments to the Christmas tree in the sanctuary - a bit of a reversal of our normal method of taking ornaments off of the tree as we support more.

The Blessing of Prayer

Lynne and I had a fantastic trip to California this past weekend, primarily for the privilege of baptizing and praying for one of our godchildren. But while we were there, we naturally spent time reconnecting with old friends and finding out what God has been doing in their lives. We were overwhelmed by the love and concern that people still have for us, even though we haven't seen many of them for over 5 years.

The greatest blessing, though, was an all-too-brief time of prayer with our hosts and dear friends, Aaron and Amanda. It is our tradition to pray together for one another whenever we get together (and even sometimes over Skype). I must confess that Aaron and Amanda do a better job of making sure we have that time of prayer than I do. That kind of prayer is something that we had as couples almost every week.

As we prayed Sunday night, the sense of God's love, His protection, His sovereignty, His mercy and grace, and His presence was very, very strong. My love and gratitude for Him was rich and almost primal. It was another very special moment with our close friends.

I encourage you to get over that little awkwardness of asking the question and make sure when you spend quality time with your closest of friends that you say, "Let's not leave until we've prayed for each other." Find out the most pressing prayer needs, share your own most pressing needs, and have a relaxed time of prayer that lasts as long as there are prayers to be uttered.

Don't just pray for God to do things to benefit us. Praise, thanksgiving, affirmation of trust, and even confession should be a part of this intimate, shared prayer time.

Meaningful prayers that we share in Small Group or in church settings are necessary and greatly beneficial. But there's another level of shared prayer with your closest Christian friends that goes beyond the norm. If you don't have that, go get it!

It may even be a little awkward at first. But know this - it's not awkward for God.

I believe you'll be amazed at what happens within your spirit when you allow yourself to be abandoned in prayer with other believers you are very close to.

Things I Never Asked For

I never asked to work with youth as a volunteer.

• Even though I had no rapport with the youth, the youth pastor of our church in Austin asked me to help develop a youth retreat based C.S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters, which soon led to weekly involvement with the youth.
  

• If God had not given me what I didn't ask for, I never would have seen how teachers can use creativity to challenge young minds.

I never asked to teach Sunday School for adults.

• I rejected requests to teach Sunday School year after year, but then our church in Seattle needed an occasional fill-in, which eventually led to me being the only teacher left.

• If God had not given me what I didn't ask for, I never would have developed a love for bringing God's Word into the lives of others.
  

I never asked to be changed from developing software in OS/2 to developing software in Windows.

• I loved OS/2 and hated Windows, but upper management didn't love OS/2 and canceled our project. My choices were to leave and pay back over $10,000 of moving expenses, or work in a Windows environment.

• If God had not given me what I didn't ask for, I never would have ended up in management, which then led to other things I didn't ask for.

I never asked to be a manager in the software industry.

• I professed repeatedly that I would never go into management. One day, one of the vice presidents of the company said, "You're a manager, starting tomorrow."

• If God had not given me what I didn't ask for, I never would have begun the process of learning leadership skills which would later be crucial in church ministry.

I never asked to have a separated shoulder.

• Night skiing sounded like so much fun.

• If God had not given me what I didn't ask for, I may never have gotten serious about serving Him as He revealed His will to me during recuperation.
  

I never asked to give up career pursuits in order to go to seminary.

• Every told us we were crazy to give up software to go into seminary - it was pretty "foolish" to give up something that came naturally and that I was good at in order to pursue something that is way outside of the area of my strengths.

• If God had not given me what I didn't ask for, I never would have known what He's been preparing me for all along.

I never asked to be a pastor.

• Our plans going into seminary included all kinds of scenarios, none of which included pastoring. Before I knew it, I was asked to join the staff of a church in a wild experiment, even though I had already rejected the idea.

• If God had not given me what I didn't ask for, I never would have seen God at work in lives like I have as a pastor.

I never asked to live in a small town.

• And I especially never asked to be placed 100 miles from the nearest Starbucks! (A problem now remedied.)
  

• If God had not given me what I didn't ask for, I would not have had to face how theology meets everyday life in so many ways.

I never asked to be childless.

• In fact, I was coldly critical of those who chose childlessness.

• If God had not given me what I didn't ask for, I would have missed out on transformative lessons on compassion, purpose, and the extent of God's sovereign goodness.

Matthew 6:6-13

But whenever you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you. When you pray, do not babble repetitiously like the Gentiles, because they think that by their many words they will be heard. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

So pray this way:

Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored,

may your kingdom come,

may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread,

and forgive us our debts, as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors.

And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

Pray for the Olympics

The 2008 Summer Olympics start on August 8, and for just over two weeks, the world's attention will be on China, this year's host. And that is a call for prayer!

It is no secret that the Chinese government has been using it's tremendous power to create a much better impression of their society than reality warrants. Never a government for respecting individual rights, they have been particularly overbearing in the months leading up to the opening ceremony. From restricting traffic to help ease the thick pollution problem to navigating the Olympic Torch Relay to avoid as many protests as possible to clamping down on Tibetan protesters, they have tried to manage every aspect of life to give the appearance that all is well in China.

Worse than the social facade they are creating, their well-documented escalation of persecuting Christians is a losing effort to give the conflicting impressions that China is both tolerant of all religions and that there are very few Christians in China. Both statements are false, and the government has taken on the futile task of trying to make us believe both are true. The more evangelistic Chinese pastors have been harassed and arrested like never before. Literature distribution around Olympic venues is strictly forbidden. Evangelism will most likely be met with swift rebukes.

So ... pray! It is precisely in times like this that people discover the Gospel cannot be stopped. Pray as the Lord would direct your heart. Consider the following prayer needs every day of the Olympics:

• The persecution of Christians in China.
• The Chinese believers who are committed to sharing the Gospel with as many Olympic visitors as possible.
• Missionaries and other foreign workers who are gathering in China to share the Gospel.
• Believing athletes to keep their testimony and to use their unique access as another avenue of sharing the Gospel.
• For the oppression of the government to be broken by God's power.
• For the church in China (the largest in the world, by the way!) to prosper and flourish no matter what the government does.
  

The Olympics are games. Persecution is no game. The Gospel is no game. We can be the strongest competitors of the Olympics if we commit to pray. I invite you to remind each other to pray during those two weeks. Every time you hear the Olympic theme, see the 5 Ring emblem, see a medal count, or see an event, be reminded to pray. Be more enthusiastic about the Church winning than the U.S. winning.

P.S. You can order a free "Pray for China" wristband from Voice of the Martyrs at: http://etools.780net.com/a/vomso/bg_vomso_CTI-China-Prayer-Bands_317.html .