In Spirit and Truth

Last June & July I wrote a series of articles on "Finding Freedom" through forgiveness. In light of our current series on the Lord’s Prayer, I felt it was appropriate to republish the second of that series. " ...forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. " —Matthew 6:12 Jesus, it seems, was pretty serious about our forgiving those who wrong us. He put some pretty strong conditions on forgiving, tying our own forgiveness to how we forgive. But forgiveness is hard! When we even think about forgiving "that person" the pain returns and the wound feels as though it were just inflicted. All of the emotion returns, and try as we might, we just cannot bring ourselves to release them. It is important for us at this point to properly define what forgiveness is, and what it is not. We often withhold forgiveness, simply because we do not understand what it means to forgive. Forgiveness is: releasing my right to be angry and/or

" Two things I ask of you, O LORD; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the LORD?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God. " -Proverbs 30:7-9 Give us this day our daily bread. When is the last time you really thought about the connotations of that portion of the Lord’s Prayer? Lord, give me just enough to sustain me through one day. This brings to mind the children of Israel in their nomadic years, wandering in the desert, eating manna that God provided. If they ever collected more than one day’s supply it went bad (with the weekly exception of Sabbath day preparations). There was a lesson there for the Israelites that we all have to learn. For me that lesson began in 2000 and continued for four full years that included my time in seminary, working for a missions agency, an

" Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth. " -John 4:23-24 Worship is not about organs or guitars, ballads or rock songs, hymns or choruses. Worship is not about helping the poor, or feeding the hungry. Worship isn't about studying the Bible or learning about the life of Jesus. Worship isn't even about sharing our beliefs with those in our circle of influence, and it isn't about giving of our time, talents or resources. You can do all of these things, perhaps even better than everyone else, and never participate in worship. What is worship about, if not these things? How do we please God if not by offering ourselves in these acts? How can we become the worshipers that God seeks? There are two answers. The long answer will unfold over the course of 12 weeks in a Wednesda

"Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." -Matthew 6:10 Our Father in Heaven, - may your name be considered holy, - may your kingdom come, - may your will be done... ...on earth as it is in heaven. A scholar I know suggests that the Greek lends itself to the above translation. Hallowed be thy name, he contends, belongs with "on earth as it is in heaven." "On earth as it is in heaven" is not only one of the deepest prayers of the Church, it is also her commission. When we pray "on earth as it is in heaven," we accept the responsibility to make these statements true in our own lives, and to set the example for the world to see. Worded another way, we pray "May your name be considered holy (Hallowed), by humanity as it is by heavenly beings. May our world, nation, state, community, congregation, family and even our very selves, be submitted to your holy name, your great kingdom and your merciful will." W

"Lord, teach us to pray." —Luke 11:1 There are volumes upon volumes of books on prayer. There is no shortage of opinions on “the right way” to pray. Many minister’s devote their entire life to teaching on prayer, some with orthodox thought and good intentions, other’s with neither. How then, are we to wade through the glut of information to find the true gems? How do we condense all of the many thoughts on prayer into small manageable bites? The disciples were good Jewish boys. They grew up attending synagogue. They heard at least as many sermons as you or I; they heard at least as many prayers. They knew how to pray, they had seen it modeled countless times. What they had never seen was effective prayer. Jesus often went away to a “solitary place” to pray. Each time when he returned, they saw him either teach with an authority they’d never before experienced, or heal the sick, or raise the dead, or feed thousands of people with minimal resources. When Jesus prayed, amazing