The Prayer Dojo

(Pre-Blog note from the author: I wrote this blog from the perspective of a martial arts instructor, or which I was one for several years. I hold black belts in two different disciplines of Tae Kwon Do: Chang Moo Kwan and Chung Do Kwan.)

Grasshopper (hoping you recall Kwai Chang Caine from the TV series "Kung Fu")*,

The concept of self defense utilized by a martial artist against a physical foe runs very parallel to the self defense techniques we utilize against our mental and spiritual foes.

The self defense moves of the martial arts disciplines use a combination of physical, mental and spiritual techniques to control and overcome the enemy, whom in your mind's eye is already vanquished and bested. For instance, in developing the skills to break and escape the holds of an attacker, the student is confronted with these important questions: What is an effort to successfully break a hold without knowledge? What is knowledge to break a hold without determination and heart and commitment? What is determination, heart and commitment to break a hold without practice? What is practice to break a hold without CONFIDENCE...Knowing the battle is won before it even begins?

Here's what I mean: In teaching you how to break a wrist hold, I will first introduce the idea of escaping an attacker's grasp by repeatedly demonstrating to you how it is done (knowledge). Then, I have you try it; does it work for you the first or second, or even the third time when you then try using the technique? Probably not! But as I work with you on things like how to get your wrist bone "just so" against the weak spot of the attacker's hold and how to leverage your body position to give you just the right application of speed and power to escape the hold and you did the maneuver over and over again (practice) so that muscle memory kicked in and you didn't have to think about doing it...you just do it; and as I begin to emphasize over and over how you need to be mentally and spiritually calm and focused so you can ignore the fear that is trying to grip your soul like the attacker is gripping your wrist and be able to explode with the right amount of knowledge, technique, heart and determination to not only escape your predicament, but also to carry through with additional techniques to prevent recapture (determination, heart and commitment), you get the idea, and it works every time, no matter how powerful the attacker. Then, an awesome thing happens: One of the most important elements of a warrior's, and a winner's, being - CONFIDENCE - kicks in, and you realize that no one will ever be able to grasp and hold your wrist against your will again! How many peoples lives could be saved if they knew and understood this one little technique of self defense?

Have you ever done a word search on the word "confidence" in your Bible? It's loaded with some good results, but the one I like the best is found in 1 John 5:14-15 of the NIV: "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: That if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of him."

You see, Grasshopper, the complete Believer, just like the complete martial artist, is one in body, mind and spirit, so that an attack against any one part is an attack against all three; likewise, the self defense against that attack involves the concerted effort of all three. Therefore, the method for dealing with an attack in any one realm is the same as for all three. In addition, the Believer has more than just his inner strength or some mystical force to call upon in responding to adversity...He has the almighty power of God dwelling in him. In fact, his "Sensei" (Instructor) actually dwells within him, providing knowledge of the attackers' weaknesses through prayer and His word, while bolstering his determination, heart and commitment though His indwelling Holy Spirit, and helping His student build confidence through providing daily "opportunities" to practice his "self defense" in preparation for the "real" (or major) attacks.

So head to your dojo (term for "martial arts studio") and practice those routines and techniques... They're guaranteed to break "icy grips"!

Facebook Church?

Last week I was driving down the road, minding my own business and listening (the radio was off), when an interesting phrase popped up in my head/spirit: Facebook Church. What was really intriguing about this event is that lately, for some reason or other, I've been really struggling to understand the whole concept of Facebook, since it and its counterparts have become such a pervasive part of our culture, in order to come up with ways to integrate it into my spiritual mission to spread the Good News of the Gospel and bring people into the Kingdom of God. Now, all of a sudden, I'm hearing "Facebook Church" and I'm wondering, is the word "church" in this case talking about a place we go to worship, or is it referring to the "real" Church, the Body of Christ...the population of Believers? And how does that tie into Facebook?

As a Baby-boomer, I grew up in an environment where one's privacy was paramount, or at least, guarded and protected...Accidental, or even intentional, expose' of one's private thoughts or goings-on was obnoxious, if not scandalous. Before everyone had clothes dryers, even hanging one's freshly washed laundry out to dry was exposing more about one's self and family then one cared to reveal. Here's a good example of the pursuit of privacy: The first telephone my family had was on a "party" line, meaning that 3 or 4 families were on the same phone line; the way you knew if a call was for your family was by the number of rings in each ring set. The problem, of course, was that anyone could "accidentally" pick up the phone and listen in on the other parties' phone calls; you didn't mind listening in to hear other people's conversations, but you certainly didn't want them listening in on yours and picking up on guarded truths about your private life! So you can bet that AT&T (Ma Bell) was pressured into working overtime to develop a network of private lines for everyone, and that customers quickly found the funds to acquire and maintain them. Even tapping someone's phone line became a crime, unless you had one of those infamous "Federal" warrants.

But then along came the internet and mobile phones, and an amazing inversion began to take place...almost imperceptibly at first, but now increasingly prolific. As phones became "unplugged," access to private conversations, albeit mostly one-sided, moved from kitchens, living rooms and bedrooms to restaurants, ball games and shopping areas. And as we "plugged" into computers and the internet, our sphere of influence and relationships moved from family, church, school and workplace to social network sites, chat rooms and forums, websites and, of course, "Tweets," with their seemingly infinite number of contacts extending into every region of the earth. But as this phenomena began to take hold and take over our lives, an interesting transition began to take place: As individuals, we went from being fish in a pond to being minnows in a sea, and that doesn't sit well with our basic human psyche. Whether we admit it or not, a basic need of all "normal" humans is to be recognized, accepted and appreciated (or some variation of those themes) by the members or potential members of our social spheres. (I think this is graphically illustrated in the explosion of tattoos, piercings and wardrobe anomalies we are experiencing in our culture these days in an obvious attempt to declare one's individuality.) As a result, the "amazing inversion" which I mentioned is taking place is this: Whereas we used to use privacy to maintain our individuality and attract other members to our "network", we now increasingly use the opposite, i.e., public exposure of our private things, to do the same thing!

Unfortunately, the insidious risk of this behavior is the trident of the Facebook phenomena: 1) We risk exposing ourselves to nefarious people who would do us harm; 2) Too little information about ourselves invites misinformation and disinformation; 3) Too much information about ourselves can unintentionally alienate those we are trying to attract. And yet, we accept the risk in ever increasing numbers, like moths hovering around a warm, open flame, in order to "connect"...and be "accepted"...and be "noticed." In fact, this urge is so strong that more and more frequently we hear in the news of yet another famous politician, pop singer, actor or other already public personality risking all that they are and everything that they have by placing the most intimate of photographs and videos of their private parts and and sexual activities on the internet without considering the inevitable outcome: That eventually someone will discover their post and expose it for all the world to see. Tragically, the ultimate dive into the pool of self-esteem results in nothing more than a leap into a dry hole cloaked in the mirage of one's ultimate importance...One that leaves us bloodied and broken and wondering, "What happened?" And yet, what is happening is clearly described in God's Word, the Bible; Matt 10:39 says, "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."

So how does all of this tie into the concept of "Facebook Church"? I still don't know for sure...I'm waiting and "listening" (praying, if you will) for some guidance from the Holy Spirit. In my own research, I came across an interesting article titled "How Facebook Killed the Church" by a Richard Beck, a Professor at Abilene Christian University [(http://experimentaltheology.blogspot.com/2010/03/how-facebook-killed-church.html) hope you can take time to read this article and resulting comments and let me know what some of your thoughts are about it], which convincingly argues that Facebook has effectively killed the traditional church, at least among young people; and yet, in contrast to this article, I bet you didn't know that the #1 Most Active Page on Facebook is the Jesus Daily Facebook Page by a physician named Aaron Tabor. Anyhow, I'm throwing all this out there because I would be very much interested in hearing your thoughts and suggestions on the matter, especially if you can help me to better understand the dynamics behind the whole "social network" thing. Believe me, your input would be greatly appreciated.

The First Epistle...The First Teaching

I think I would be safe in saying that the one thing that drives us to prayer more than any other reason is "trouble"...That which creates conflict and trials in our lives. Recently, during my prayer/study time, I was reading and meditating on a fabulous blog my daughter had written on how the Bible teaches we should respond to the trials of life, when the Father revealed to me an awesome nugget of interest which I have never heard taught before. So what I would like to do is reproduce her blog entry here (hopefully, with her approval) for you to consider, and then, at the end, lay out what the Lord showed me about the epistle and the base verses that my daughter references in her article.

Here, then, is her blog entry:

Last night I was reading an article about a creative hero of mine, the writer/director/producer J.J. Abrams. I have always admired his work -- but now I admire him for who he is behind the work. This is the passage in the article that has created a paradigm shift in me:

"Abrams has been able to survive the rigors of marathon writing and production schedules, while also packing school lunches and tucking his children into bed...by keeping things fun in a process of constant discovery. "Most of us are just trying not to die, but J.J. flourishes because it's always fun for him.'"

Fun?? Pressure and problems and writer's block can be FUN?? As I was noodling this incredibly foreign and unnatural sounding idea, a scripture popped in my head. I remembered it from James 1:2 as going something like: Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you face troubles of many kinds. That's a paraphrase, and I'll share some of my favorite translations of this scripture in a moment, but first I just have to say how convicted I felt about the article and then what I remembered of a scripture that I have obviously known for a very long time -- but have somehow forgotten, and worse -- completely ignored. When I face troubles and problems (especially in my work, but also with my health and in relationships) I have never found it fun or considered them joy! I have raged, freaked out, cussed, cried, melted under the pressure and even quit at times -- but I don't think I've ever thought of it as fun. And yet here's this guy in Hollywood living the scripture that I was supposed to know so well. That's when something changed in me -- what if I could live that way too?? Oh how I want to!

And so this morning, I went to my J.B. Phillips translation of the bible and read James 1:2-5:

"When all kinds of trials and temptations crowd into your lives, do not resent them as intruders, but welcome them as friends! Realise they have come to test your faith and to produce in you the quality of endurance. But let this process go on until that endurance is fully developed, and you will find you have become men of mature character and the right sort of independence." (Of course the terms "men" and "man" here is used in the human sense, not gender specific.)

Now, just as I was beginning to wonder how in the world I can take on such a monumental task of not resenting troubles, but treating them as friends, I saw that the scripture goes on with some advice on just that:

"And if, in the process, any of you does not know how to meet any particular problem, he has only to ask God -- who gives generously to all men without making them feel foolish or guilty -- and he may be quite sure that the necessary wisdom will be given him."

WOW! What hope that gives me -- and what joy too. it almost makes me giggle at the thought -- I can have fun with problems. We all can! Here is the scripture in a few other translations...each one of them filling out the full picture to me of what is really being said:

The New Living Translation: "Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing."

The Message: "Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way. If you don't know what you're doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You'll get his help, and won't be condescended to when you ask for it."

And finally, the one that popped in my head, the NIV translation: " Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you."

And so, with God's help, I am going to embark on a new journey -- to stop resenting, being afraid of, getting angry at and resisting challenges, trials, troubles and problems -- and instead try to be welcoming, seeing them as a gift, a joy...and yes, even fun -- knowing that they will help to make me the best version of myself. It is a challenge, to be sure...but I'm starting to believe, it might just be a joy too:) (End of daughter's post...if you prefer to check out her blog site yourself, here's the link: joydelightsinjoy.blogspot.com)

Now, here is the amazing nugget that I believe the Lord was showing me about the Epistle of James and the wonderful teachings about conflicts, pure joy and asking for wisdom in chapter 1, verses 2 through 8:

Although the order of the presentation of the epistles in the New Testament of the Bible was certainly inspired by the Holy Spirit, it was certainly not based on the order in which they were written; in fact, several of the epistles were written before Paul's Book of Romans, and indeed, even before Luke's Book of Acts (which was actually written after Romans). So, guess which epistle is considered to be the earliest of all the New Testament writings...That's right the Book of James! Do you see what the significance of that fact is? It means that the very first teaching scripture inspired by the Holy Spirit after the death and resurrection of Christ was written by Jesus first brother, James (who did not initially believe in his Savior Brother), in James 1:2-8, which begins with the words, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, when you face trials of many kinds, because you know the testing of your faith produces perseverance." I believe this emphasizes the importance, in God's view, of developing a strong and unwavering faith based on the joy of the Lord (that's the only "pure" joy). [In fact, the whole Book of James, is like a litany of the Fruit of the Spirit: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control..."Against such things there is no law." (Gal 6:22-23)] Given the Holy Spirit's priority for this teaching, we all would do well to embark on that new journey my daughter has embarked on.

The "Abba" Day Dilemma

This is my inaugural post on this blog. I apologize for not starting it sooner (May was the 1 year anniversary of the publication of our book, the Prayer Directed Life); believe me, it's not because the Father hasn't been prodding me to get with it! This first post is not about prayer and praying, but it came to me during my prayer time. The Holy Spirit began inspiring me with what to write about this subject 3-4 weeks ago, I guess to coincide with Father's Day. It's entitled "The "Abba" Day Dilemma." Thanks for visiting my blog. I will try diligently to post on a regular basis...I would love to get your thoughts about some of the interesting things the Father drops into my prayer time, and hear about some of the things He drops into yours.

The "Abba" Day Dilemma

In his article entitled “Father Hunger”, Gordon Dalbey, author of Healing the Masculine Soul and Sons of the Father: Healing the Father-Wound in Men Today, tells the true story of a nun who worked in a men’s prison. One day, as Mother’s Day was approaching, a prisoner asked her to buy him a Mother's Day card for his mother. She did, and the word traveled like wildfire around the prison. Deluged with requests, she called Hallmark Cards, who obliged with huge boxes of Mother's Day cards as a donation. The warden arranged for each inmate to draw a number, and they lined up through the cell blocks to get their cards. Weeks later, the nun was looking ahead on her calendar, and decided to call Hallmark again and ask for as many Father's Day cards, in order to avoid another rush. As Father's Day approached, the warden announced free cards were again available at the chapel. To the nun's surprise, not a single prisoner ever asked her for a Father's Day card. Surprising to you? It’s not surprising to me, especially since the feminist movement and Hollywood began in earnest to engineer the role of men as husbands and fathers out of our culture around the time that President Richard Nixon declared Father’s Day a permanent national observance day in 1972.

Here’s something I bet you didn’t know: Father’s Day was first celebrated on June 19, 1910, by a woman named Sonora Smart Dodd in Spokane, Washington, to honor her father (the date was her father’s birthday), William Jackson Smart, after listening to a Mother’s Day sermon at her church. But she did this not to honor him for his role as a father, but rather, to honor him for single handedly raising her and her siblings after the early death of their mother. In other words, the first Father’s Day was originally celebrated as a pseudo Mother’s Day for a motherless family who wanted to honor their father for his contributions in mothering the family, not fathering it! Eventually, the day became more of a recognition of fathers for their unique contributions in their role as fathers, but it didn’t start out that way. In fact, history records that the idea of a Father’s Day was first received with “hilarity and mockery,” and that the first commemorations were celebrated with “jokes, satire, parody, and derision;” kinda like the whole concept of fatherhood is celebrated on virtually every “family” sitcom since the early 70’s, wouldn’t you say? (In fairness, it was through Dodd’s tireless and dedicated efforts that this mentality was changed and made it possible for Father’s Day to acquire national recognition, albeit 60 years after her first celebration.)

And then there’s a recent article I read entitled “Should Father’s Day Be Outlawed?” by Focus on the Family’s Jim Daly which reports that some progressives have suggested that we get rid of Father's Day because it's discriminatory, and besides, it only causes hurt and heartache for the child without a dad or for a father that's prohibited from spending time with his child. Incidentally, Mr. Daly was raised in a fatherless household; his own father left home when he was five. In the same article, Mr. Daly reported that his research revealed a couple of staggering statistics: In the United States, one out of three children live apart from their father and nearly 64% of African-American kids don’t have a dad in the home. (For comparison, in 1960, 11% of kids came from father-absent homes.)

Ok, so what’s all the fuss about? Well, aside from the ironic celebratory observance of an institution by a society which is hell-bent on eliminating it’s role from our earthly culture, along with the general sanitizing of it’s sons of their maleness and manliness, it has something to do with the devastating effect all this has on an amazing spiritual concept which God was trying to reveal to us in Romans Chapter 8 in the Bible.

In my opinion, Chapter 8 of the book of Romans is one of the most important chapters in the New Testament, and perhaps the whole Bible. If you can get a hold of the truths laid out in Romans Chapter 8, you will have a solid foundation for understanding not only the rest of the New Testament, but also, the whole concept of Christianity and the relationship God wants to have with us. One of the most important truths revealed in that chapter is found in Rom 8:14-16:

“14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.”

Wow, my dear reader, do you see what that says? It says that when we make God the Lord of our lives by becoming born again through His Holy Spirit, we don’t become His minions or slaves or mind-numbed robots who live and perform under a constant state of fear; but rather, it says we become “Family” with God as we become his adopted children, and His Spirit boldly proclaims with each one of our spirits that we are His child. In the very next verse, Paul adds, “Now if we are children, then we are heirs - heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ...”. This Scripture also says that we can address Almighty God as “Abba, Father,” just as His first born son and our brother, Jesus, did when talking to Him (see Mark 14:36). The significance of that term is revealed when you understand that “Abba” is an Aramaic word for father used in a relation of personal intimacy and love, much like we use the term “Daddy.” (Incidentally, for those of you who may be hung up on the gender aspect of this Scripture and discussion, you have to remember that in the times and the culture that this scripture was written, only male children held status of importance in the family or could be heirs of the family assets, and only fathers could head the family or hold positions of importance in the community [as in many cultures of present day]. I remind you of Paul’s explanation concerning that matter in Gal 3:26-28:

“26 You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

Paul was boldly proclaiming that in the spiritual world of God’s Family we are all the same and equally important to the Father, regardless of our earthly stature or gender.)

In fact, if you want a couple of examples of how strongly God felt about the roll of fathers in the lives of their children, consider these two examples:

1. When Mary, the mother of Jesus, agreed to be impregnated by God, he did not leave her to raise the child on her own; nor did He leave Jesus to grow up without having a father/male influence in the family. He, the spiritual and physical father of Jesus, provided an earthly husband and father to help in raising the child in the form of Joseph, who was technically Jesus’ stepfather. (I actually think this should be the basis that single and widowed moms ought to use in petitioning God for help in providing fatherly influence in raising their children.)
2. Do you recall what was documented in 3 of the 4 Gospels when first publicly identified Jesus by baptizing Him in the Jordan? It says in all 3 Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) that a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Keep in mind that this was before Jesus began His ministry on earth or did anything publicly. Basically, God the Father was both proudly acknowledging His Son and and encouraging Him...Something all of us fathers should be doing with our children.

So here’s God’s dilemma: How in the world can He get across to us, especially those who are new believers and seekers, the important significance of the teaching about the Father/child relationship He wants to have with His people, as described in Rom 8:14-16, when our society has worked so hard to diminish and discredit the role of fathers in the modern family? How can He expect anyone to develop a spiritual Father/child relationship when their earthly image of a loving father is either non-existent or terribly scarred by an abusive or neglectful father? What kind of damage is inflicted upon peoples’ image and perception of God the Father when we consistently portray fathers and husbands in our commercials and TV shows as incompetent, sex-addicted sports jocks who lack basic social skills and have no idea how to feed, clothe or counsel any child, much less their own, while mothers and wives are the only ones credited with having any sense or skills in the family? And finally, how long should He allow our society’s mockery of a role He created and exalted from the beginning go on before shutting that society down, or allowing it to self destruct on its own.

Come to think of it, is it God’s dilemma....Or ours?