Final Entry...

Well, I hope that the blog experience this summer was helpful as we continue our quest to become a community that grows in listening to God in prayer and experiencing His power and love. Since February, when Dr. Brenda Salter-McNeil spoke so powerfully to our church, I have struggled but tried to put words to what it means for us as a body as we move deeper into God's heart. These blog entries have been part of that process.

I will conclude with one more quote, but before I do I would like to make an appeal to those who have been reading to help me with something. In September I will teach a series called "Into the River." This series will build on many of the themes we have been exploring throughout this blog, the book, and the many conversations.

The help that i am asking for is to get a better sense of where those in our body are at as they relate to this topic and this direction we have been taking. Specifically, here are some questions that i have been wondering, but do not necessarily have a clear sense of:

• What is the posture people feel towards this shift we are trying to move towards?
• What are the fears that they are feeling as we move in this direction?
• What questions do they have that they wish would be addressed as we move in this direction?

If you have thoughts on any of those questions it would be really helpful for me to hear from you. I am guessing that answering them on the blog feels too public for many of you, so instead i am asking that you would consider sending an email response to info@rivercity.cc

It would be really helpful for the preparation of our next series if you could...

Now for one last quote from "Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire" (p153):

“God will manifest himself in direct proportion to our passion for him. The principle he laid down long ago is still true. ‘You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart’ (Jeremiah 29.13).”

There is a mysterious interaction between God's pursuit of us and our response to Him, and I won't even try to define where i think one starts and the other ends. But it is helpful to always come back front and center to what we know for sure, and these words spoken to Jeremiah are reiterated in one form or another all throughout Scripture.

When we seek God with all of our heart - when we burn with passion for who He is and what He means to us - we are guaranteed to find Him. The reverse, of course, is true as well. If we are uninterested, apathetic, or even avoiding God's presence and power, we will not find Him.

So the final question i ask on this blog will not likely be considered profound, but it is so imporant:

How badly do we want God?

As the months roll on this is what i believe is the most important indicator in this journey. Are we growing in desire for who He is? Do we long to reflect the heart and character of God in our own lives? Are we growing in dependence on Him? Are we increasing the level of submission to God? Are we more aware of our sin and faster to repent? Are we seeking him with all of our hearts?

Thank you again for coming on this journey with us this summer. May you continue to pursue the heart of God with all your being, just as He is pursuing you with all of His.

Blessings,

Daniel Hill
Senior Pastor, River City Community Church

Building a lasting foundation

“For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person's work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward.” (1 Corinthians 3.11-14)

As we continue on this journey towards the heart of God through deeper experiences of prayer, listening, reflection, and obedience, I believe the Scripture above has a lot to both teach us and inspire us towards. What we are NOT trying to do is add another bullet point to our spiritual to-do list. What we are NOT trying to do is summon up guilt that we never pray enough. What we are NOT trying to do is look for the path of least resistance, and hope that God will bless our lives more if we can figure out the right prayers to throw up.

What we ARE trying to do is to build on the foundation of God’s love through Jesus Christ in our lives. We are wanting to commune more deeply, hear more clearly, and connect more thoroughly to the heart of God. Listen to and reflect on Warren Wiersbe’s comments on this text to the Brooklyn Tabernacle staff (found on pgs. 135-136 of “Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire”):

“Warren Wiersbe made an interesting observation about [1 Corinthians 3.13] to the Brooklyn Tabernacle staff. ‘What’s the difference between these materials, besides the obvious – that one group is fireproof while the other isn’t? I think it’s significant that the wood, hay, and straw are abundant… right outside your door, or only a few miles away at most. Any forest, any farmer’s field has an abundance of these. But if you want gold, silver, and costly stones, you have to dig for them. They’re not just lying around everywhere. You have to go deep into the earth.’” P135-136

[A spiritual façade] “that uses wood, hay, and straw come easy – little work, little seeking, no travail, no birthing. You just slap it on and it will look adequate – for a while. But if you want to build something that will endure on Judgment Day, the work is much more costly. On that day it won’t matter what your fellow Christians thought of you… You and I will stand before the One whose eyes are ‘like fire.’ We won’t soften him up by telling him how brilliant our strategy was. We will face his searing gaze.”

Moving towards the end...

I am grateful to see how many within the River City family took up the challenge to read a book together this summer. "Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire" has been the story we have used to examine prayer, to open our hearts to God in new ways, and to create a collective conversation.

The aim was to dedicate July and August to reading and discussing the book, and then continuing on with some of these themes in September with our next series "Into the River." We are now in the last stretch of August, so this will be the last week of blogs and replies.

Today's blog is tied to the last entry, so you may want to re-read that one again before jumping in. Here is a quote from the book on pgs 134-135:

“Alexander Whyte, after observing the 1859 awakening in Scotland, made this marvelous statement: “In revival, the congregation does the preaching.” What he meant was that, beyond the presence of preachers, musicians, and other ministries, what speaks to the heart is that God is dwelling in close communion with his people.”

I thought this was a particularly important concept for us to remember as we more deeply pursue the heart of God through prayer and listening. There are a lot of elements to a revival taking root – great preaching, preparatory prayer, and spirit-led worship, are just a few. But that is not historically what lights the match to the kindling. Instead, as Alexander Whyte observed, “in revival, the congregation does the preaching.”

Wherever you are at in your prayer journey, I hope that you will reflect on this quote today and do some honest introspection. Is revival happening in your own heart? Do you want it to be happening? Is your character being transformed? Are you becoming more loving and less irritable? Do you find yourself growing in generosity and shrinking in selfishness? Are you seeing the passions of God in this world with more clarity? Is repentance becoming something your heart desires more all the time, so that you can commune with God?

These questions are not posed to create a guilt trip. Instead, it is to remind us that spiritual renewal is not a minister’s job. If those watching from the outside are going to have an encounter with God, it will most likely happen because they see the congregation having an encounter with God.

If you don’t sense this happening, but wish you did, there is good news! Desire is all you need to begin. If you feel even the slightest pull to open yourself to God’s healing presence, then that is evidence He is already at work within you. Pray that what begins with a trickle will turn into a might river, and that all around us will get swept in to the mighty power of God.

Secrets of the Heart

P134 of "Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire":

“According to 1 Corinthians 14, if meetings are governed by the Holy Spirit, the result for the visitor will be that “the secrets of the heart will be laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, ‘God is really among you!’” (v25). This should be our goal. When a visitor comes in, there should be such a mixture of God’s truth and God’s presence that the person’s heart is x-rayed, the futility of his life is exposed, and he crumbles in repentance…. Are we longing for this? Are we praying for this? Are today’s church leaders aiming for this? Are church members encouraging their pastors to act on the Lord’s promptings no matter the cost?”

One of the repetitive themes you will pick up if you are reading our blog this summer is that 2008 has been marked by a deeper call to prayer, repentance, and listening to God. You wouldn’t have found a River City leader before this year saying prayer was unimportant, but for whatever reason this year has carried a distinct sense of an experience that God is calling the people of River City to deeper expressions of His heart and His desires for repentance and renewal in this world.

One of the outcomes for us as leadership is to ask questions of both our personal prayer lives and our corporate prayer life at River City. How do we take it to the next level in our own lives? How do we take it to the next level corporately?

At one Elder meeting this summer we took this Cymbala quote and used it as a way to pray for River City. A fresh encounter with this passage brought new perspective on how we can pray for our times together as a body. 1 Corinthians 14 paints an incredible picture of a Spirit-filled service. When God’s truth and God’s presence mix together with prayerful hearts, the secrets of the human heart will be laid bare and even those who may not know God yet will be compelled to say, “God is really among you.”

So we as leaders invite you to pray this prayer for our body along with us. Pray for the church leaders, that we would aim for this. Pray for me, that I would be willing to act on the Lord’s promptings, no matter the cost. Pray for the worship leaders, that they would be able to create the atmosphere that makes us most receptive to this. Pray for each other, that we will come in with a sense of expectation that God wants to move like this. And pray for those who have not come to River City yet. Pray that when we take the risk to invite our friends to River City that they will not walk away saying we are cool, fun, organized, or edgy. Instead, pray that they will walk away saying, “God is really among you.”

Who do you say that I am?

This question has been in my heart for the past month or so. If you recall, Jesus asked the disciples who the people thought He was. They told him some folks called Him Elijah and others called Him John the Baptist. Curious, but what Jesus really wanted to know was, "But who do you say that I am?"

He poses the same question to us today and our answer is important as we desire to grow in prayer and in following the Spirit. It'll make or break how we go...even if we'll start at all. A lot of our issues with prayer is not with the concept of prayer itself, but fundamentally with our view of God. Since prayer is communication in a relationship, the quality of the relationship is key. So is it surprising that we lack prayer and that we are unable to follow the Spirit when we feel that God doesn't really like us or even that He doesn't care about us? Does God even know that I exist other than the fact that I use up saving grace to get to heaven?

This past month, I have had a newborn to care for. I always thought that when parents talked about getting no sleep that it was figurative. I have since learned otherwise. It's literal. My life goes in 2-3 hour cycles of existence that consists of feeding, changing diapers, putting to sleep, trying to keep asleep, and hopefully, getting some sleep. Combine sleeplessness with being at home alone most of the time and you can get a little loopy...even if you absolutely delight in your baby.

It's in the midst of this existence that one day I felt God persisting with this question. I was feeling completely abandoned out in left field and He kept asking me, "Who do you say that I am?" I struggled with the question and I knew what He wanted to hear from me--the problem was, I didn't feel it. But I finally confessed, "You are my Father," and in that moment, I felt His presence envelope me and wash away the unbelief and hurt. If He was my Father, He loved me, I was not abandoned, He was tender with me even more than we can be with our own children.

We all have our own inner dialogs that we need God's Spirit to speak too, but I would be willing to bet that most of us have an age old struggle that God doesn't really care about or know me. Remember the Israelites? We all know that they grumbled and complained after they left Egypt. It seemed like no matter what God did for them, they quickly forgot and resorted to testing God. We read in Hebrews 4 that their major issue was unbelief--they didn't believe that God was for them, that He loved them, that He would take care of them...and it resulted in them trusting in themselves and trying to make a way on their own--or even worse--wishing they were back in Egypt where they conveniently forgot that they were slaves.

That illustration is not isolated--not then, not now, but we fight back with faith. We take God at His word. We look to the cross and see that He gave His most precious son for us already--how will He not also give us all things promised. Is God a liar? Is He fickle? Is He faithless? Can you say He is your Good Shepherd, loving Father, Provider, Protector, faithful, your compassionate Advocate? Do you believe that He is for you and that He likes you?

If you find yourself struggling in your walk with God, with prayer, ask yourself what it is you really believe about God. Listen to your heart to hear what accusations you hold against Him and then bring those things in honesty to Him. Let Him reveal Himself to you through the word, through remembrance of the past and find those accusations melt away. Find healing in His presence.

"River City, who do you say that I am?"

The Spirit & Wind

P134 of “Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire”:

“A basic sign of revival is that the wind is allowed to blow where it will.”

Here is a short but sweet statement, and one that leads to a question: “In your life, how free is the wind to blow where it will?” A penetrating question, isn’t it?

I ask the same question of myself. I wonder if this question might not reveal a lot about the true level of submission we each bring to our relationship with God. Rules are so much simpler than the wind. If I adhere to a set of ‘do’s’ and ‘don’ts’ then it feels like I have some level of control of my life. Giving full access to my life’s values and directions is a different story. Then it feels like nothing is secure. In that arrangement the wind can blow anytime in any direction, and I lose all (sense of) control in my life.

In regards to a topic that appears as simple as prayer, I have found that I am much less willing to let the wind blow where it will than I thought. For example, I have had some bad experiences in church environments that used Spirit language a lot yet who lost their credibility by having too many mixed-motive people abuse the freedom that was meant for the Spirit. My response? Over the years I have narrowed the box in my life in how much or in what ways the Spirit is allowed to move.

But if I am going to experience revival in my life, the wind must be allowed to blow where it will. For me, that has included facing some of my wounds from past experiences and trusting that God is still God and that I need to be open for God to use me and speak to me however He chooses. This has been scary for me, yet necessary if revival is going to happen.

Questions: Is the wind of the Spirit of God allowed to blow where it will in your life? If not, what are the compartments of your life that currently have the door closed? Why? What would it take for you to open those to God?

Drawing near to God

P112 of "Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire":

“All we find in the New Testament is the admonition to “come near to God and he will come near to you” (James 4.8). The responsibility lies with us. If enough people in New York City or San Francisco call out to God with all their hearts, those cities can become world-famous for revival. God is no respecter of geography.”

This quote reminded me of the important passage in 2 Chronicles 7.14: “...if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

There is an interesting relationship throughout Scripture between God’s outpouring of power and the people of God calling out to God for that power. The sometimes frustrating part is that there is clearly no formula – you don’t pray a certain way or a certain number of times and then sit back with a sense of spiritual entitlement that God has to perform in a certain way. Yet on the other hand, you also can’t avoid this clear relationship between God’s power being an outflow of repentance, humility, and hunger for the fullness of God.

I would love to imagine what the city of Chicago would look like if the citizens of this great city prayed and postured ourselves in the spirit of 2 Chronicles 7. For that matter, I would love to imagine what would happen if the citizens of the greater Humboldt Park neighborhood would do that.

But let’s start far smaller than that. Is this true in River City? Are God’s people in River City, who are called by name, humbling ourselves and praying and seeking God’s face, ready to turn from our wicked ways? Am I? Are you?

These are the ingredients of receptive spiritual soil…

Prayer and Filling of the Spirit

P96 of "Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire":

"Ephesians 5.18 says 'be always being filled with the Spirit.' The disciples in the NT needed regular, fresh infillings. When they were under attack, they received fresh power, fresh courage, fresh fire from the Holy Spirit. Our store of spiritual power apparently dissipates with time."

“Always being filled with the Spirit.” What does that mean to you? What does it look like when we are filled with the Spirit? What does it look like when we are not? These are key questions, especially if Cymbala is right when he suggests that even a full spiritual tank doesn’t last, that “our store of spiritual power apparently dissipates with time.” So how do we know if we are full or empty? How do we receive fresh power, fresh courage, and fresh fire from the Spirit when we most badly need it?

Here is one way we could think about it. In Matthew 3.13-17 we see the Spirit come upon Jesus in power, and in a way that would seem to qualify as being “filled with the Spirit.” What did it look like for Jesus to be filled with the Spirit?

We get a clue in v17 when a voice from Heaven says, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Apparently being filled with the Spirit means, among other things, that we have a deep intellectual and emotional understanding that we are sons and daughters of God, and that we are pleased and accepted by the King of this world.

How does that relate to the need we have for fresh power, fresh courage, and fresh fire? I would suggest that if we actually believed what Jesus heard in our own lives, and that the truth of that claim made its way to the core, we would get all of the above.

Where does real power come from? When we know that the ultimate source of power in this world has called us to Himself and into this world. Where does real courage come from? When we know that “He that is within us is greater than what is in the world,” and that the King of the universe has our back and is cheering us on. Where does fresh fire come from? When we realize in new ways the measure of cost and sacrifice that was made so that we could be called children of God.

I imagine that what Jesus heard in Matthew 3 from Heaven was very similar to what the disciples heard in the deepest part of their soul when they were under attack. “You are my sons, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” I believe this is where their fresh fire and fresh courage came to go further than they ever dreamed and to take risks far greater than they ever thought they could.

You and I are no different than the disciples. We have access to the same Spirit. Our spiritual power dissipates just like theirs did – this is the inevitable outcome of being sinful people who get disconnected from the power base. But spiritual power is also available to us – when we are filled with the Spirit.

“God, teach us how to walk in step with your Spirit. Fill every crevice and crack in our hearts with the wonder of your goodness, power and might. May we have experiences of depth and reality where who we are and whose we are comes to light in new ways. Send us into the riskiest places on earth, and then fill us with fresh power, fresh courage, and fresh fire.”

A Prayer of Hope

P78 of "Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire":

“Charles Spurgeon once said that when a jeweler shows his best diamonds, he sets them against a black velvet backdrop. The contrast of the jewels against the dark velvet brings out the luster. In the same way, God does his most stunning work where things seem hopeless. Wherever there is pain, suffering, and desperation, Jesus is. And that’s where his people belong – among those who are vulnerable, who think nobody cares. What better place for the brilliance of Christ to shine?”

Is there anyone going on this journey with us that feels a pang in their spirit when they read this? Does anyone feel a sense of hopelessness right now? Is anyone marked by a pain, suffering, or desperation that seems to overpower every other emotion?

If so, perhaps these words will bring some comfort to you today. God indeed does his most stunning work where things seem hopeless. Maybe this can be your prayer for today:

“God, everything seems hopeless for me right now. I feel surrounded by blackness, by silence, by the despair of my own thoughts. If it is true that wherever there is pain, suffering, and desperation, Jesus is – then I need Jesus now more than ever. God, please shine the brilliance of Christ’s love into my life right now.”

What is effective ministry?

From p71 of "Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire":

“Our forebearers back in the camp meetings days used to say that if people left a meeting talking about what a wonderful sermon the preacher gave or how beautifully the singers sang, the meeting had failed. But if people went home saying things like, “Isn’t God good? He met me tonight in such a wonderful way,” it was a good meeting. There was to be no sharing the stage with the Lord.”

I spent the first five years of my ministerial career working at Willow Creek Community Church. One of the great legacies Willow left in me was the importance of evaluating ministry. The thesis went something like this: in every domain outside of the church we are expected to pursue our goals and ambitions with excellence and intensity, yet when we are in church we for some reason lower our standards. If church is the house of God, wouldn’t we do the opposite and increase our standards?”

To this day I cannot attend a church service or ministry event without quickly moving through a series of filters as I evaluate whether I considered the event to be a success. But this leads to the inevitable and very important question: “What is the basis of success?” Which filters should be used? Timeliness? Excellence? Quality of delivery? Authenticity? Perhaps these should all be considered. But how about the question Cymbal poses here, rooted in the history of our ‘forebearers.’ Questions like, “Isn’t God good?” and “Did I meet God tonight?”

So here is my challenge: Take a month and use this as your evaluation tool. When you go to your community group, or when you come to a Sunday worship service, or when you go to any environment whose purpose is to lift up God, ask these questions of yourself when it is over. “Did I meet God tonight at community group?” “Did I meet God today at service?” “Did I meet God at this church event?”

This is a wonderful way to calibrate our expectations of a great event or service. If the answer is ‘yes’ then we are moving in the right direction! And if the answer is ‘no,’ then we have to ask some really important questions of ourselves…

A Prayer for Prayer

From p73 of "Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire":

“The apostles had this instinct: When in trouble, pray. When intimidated, pray. When challenged, pray. When persecuted, pray.”

Here is my prayer for those of us on this journey to a deeper understanding and experience of prayer:

“God, instill in us the same instinct that marked your early followers. When we are in trouble, may our instinct be to pray. When we are intimidated, may our instinct be to pray. When we are challenged, may our instinct be to pray. When we are persecuted, may our instinct be to pray. Whether our days bring joy or our days bring hardship, may we continually find ourselves moving – instinctively – towards the heart of God in prayer.”