This stirring and inspiring book is packed with insightful points from a man who has obviously spent much time seeking the Lord through prayer. E.M. Bounds seeks to show us that it is not more methods and gimmicks that are needed, but earnest men of prayer. Such a timely message today yet Bounds wrote this book many years ago! In the first chapter, Bounds lays out his reason for writing this book: “What the Church needs to-day is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use—men of prayer, men mighty in prayer. The Holy Ghost does not flow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men—men of prayer.” (p. 2)
In twenty chapters, Bounds lays out not only his argument in his own words but he relies on excellent quotes from many saints of the past whom God has used mightily for His work. Bounds stay often that any man who has been used by God is first a man of prayer. Prayer is the basis for any pastor to be used by and for God. As Bounds states it, “Every preacher who does not make prayer a mighty factor in his own life and ministry is weak as a factor in God’s work and is powerless to project God’s cause in this world.” (p. 4)
This book is a refreshing to the soul as it continually challenges the reader to strive for holiness and seeking the Lord through prayer. The examples on page after page of the divines who spent hours in prayer in order to prepare for their service to the Lord is challenging. Of course, if received incorrectly it could be seen as a law to slavishly follow or an out-of -reach standard that leads to discouragement. But read in the larger context, that is not how it should be received. Bounds seems to work through his argument skillfully beginning with showing the need and motivation for men of prayer, moving to examples of men of prayer, then further showing methods of prayer and finally capping of with sharing some of the many glories of a life of prayer.
I was greatly encouraged by this book. I have recently been struggling with my time of private devotions. Changes in my schedule and a new baby give me many reasons to make excuses but Bounds has been used by God to speak to my heart and refresh my soul. Prayer is not a duty but a delight. Prayer is not just a necessity I am called to, it is a privilege I am given!
The chapters on the topic of “unction” were very profitable for me. I have read much about the term “unction” within the pages of the Puritan Paperbacks but Bounds gives a very clear and precise discussion on the necessity of unction. Unction in the pulpit and in ministry does not come from merely studying well or writing eloquent sermons. Unction comes from spending time on your knees in prayer with the One who gives power.
This is a book that I plan on referring back to for encouragement and refreshment as I seek to be faithful in prayer for the sake of my joy and God’s glory.

John 11 – Extraordinary Hope

“The Father wants to draw us into the story of his Son. He doesn’t have a better story to tell, so he keeps retelling it in our lives.” That means that we endure suffering and pain that seems like it should be avoidable, seems like it shouldn’t happen so that we can display the gospel in our lives. The gospel is the best story and we are privileged to “share in  [Jesus'] sufferings” (Philippians 3:10).

That is good and true, and here is the piece that is breathtaking to me. Miller writes, “If we stop fighting and embrace the gospel story God is weaving in our lives, we discover joy.” We find joy in submitting to the story God is writing with our lives! Joy comes through faith in God! God is doing so many things with our lives right now and we only see just a few of them. His story has a great ending that will suffice.

Gospel growth isn’t easy, but it is good because the Author of the Story is Good. So, I pray that we all are submitted to God as he tells his story through our lives. Soli Deo gloria.

Thankfully, it didn’t take me long to realize the ridiculousness of complaining about the “pain” I endured carrying the cross. A few splinters are not even worth comparing to the immense agony that my Savior suffered through carrying His cross. And even more, He, who never deserved to bare such shame, did so for me. I so thankful for grace!

Are you SAD? from Puritan Reformed on Vimeo.

More information is available in this article.

Saturday night we setup for church at Richmond Hall in the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia. Finished up around 6:30 p.m. As I drove past the playground across the street, nothing was out of the ordinary. It looked like the beginnings of another typical night in the neighborhood. Sadly, what came later was anything but typical.

We arrived for worship the next morning completely unaware of anything tragic happening less than 100 feet away and merely 9 hours earlier. There are conflicting stories about the events but the end result is the same: a 21 year-old boy from the neighborhood is dead. He was shot and killed by an off-duty policeman in front of the playground. As I said, there are lots of different stories about how all this came to happened and I hate to speculate, so I won’t. Here’s the report from our local ABC station:

When I heard about this, I was settling in with my family after church. Got a text about it and read a brief news release. I asked myself, “How do you bring shalom to a situation you know nothing about, with people you don’t know and who may not care about what you have to offer them?” Thankfully, I didn’t have to spend too much time dwelling on that thought in the comforts of my home.

“Gonna go down there and check around” was the text from my good friend (pastor and co-laborer for the gospel) Rob Burns. My most excellent wife totally understood as I got up and left.

“How do you bring shalom in this situation to people you don’t know and who may not care about what you’re offering?” I thought to myself again. Then it struck me. “You enter in!”

We need not look farther than Jesus to see someone who entered into a world of pain where people didn’t know him and certainly most didn’t want what he was offering. Yet he came to bring shalom (in part at first) to the people. He did this by entering into their lives and sharing their pain, ultimately being rejected and killed so that we wouldn’t have to bear the wrath for our sin. That is true caring. That is true love.

I’m not saying that Rob and I do this perfectly like Jesus (hangout with us for a while and you will see our lives are marked by God’s grace, not our own accomplishments). But the Holy Spirit prompts us to be like Jesus (while conforming us more into his image) in our city.

So, we prayed, walked around the playground, talked with people, listened to people, talked to the police and just generally looked for ways we could help the people in our community. We tried to enter in.

I think the answer to loving your city, to serving it and bringing a foretaste of shalom to your city is simple but impossible. It’s simple in that it only requires you to go and enter into the lives of people around you. That really doesn’t take much (even if it may be uncomfortable sometimes). Besides, you are just following the leading of the Savior as he entered into this world.

However, it is impossible in that – on our own – we won’t seek the shalom of the city and we won’t enter into people’s lives until Christ has entered into ours. The gospel must first change us before we are propelled out on mission. It’s impossible because we can’t make that happen. It’s all God’s grace to us and through us so that we can be blessed and a blessing.

My question for all of us is: “If God has called you to himself, how is he sending you to spread shalom in your neighborhood?”

But I can’t be too upset about it or blame them. Look, I’m a believer, yet too often my life fails to reflect Christ as among the top 50 influential people in it. So I don’t point a finger, rather, I bend my knees and pray that God would continue to change me, my marriage, our family and our church into to more dependently reliant on Christ to show his power off in our city.

While Jesus may not know be recognized as among “Philadelphia’s 50 Most Influential”, there will be a day when all will recognize his power, influence and glory:

“God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9-11)

I was born and raised in California (mostly in Los Angeles). Chances are if you are reading this blog, you already know that because you know me (thanks for reading Mom). Anyway, there is a certain personality and behavior that appears pretty often in people from SoCal. Even after decades of experiencing these people (and in many ways being one of them myself), I am not sure I can fully put my finger on it enough to describe it. Call it a semi-pretentious, bitingly sarcastic with extreme expressiveness (now I realize this is a stereotype – remember I said it was sin – and may not be true). For my own sinful purposes, I have pretty much categorized most people who display any two or more of these characteristics and are from the lower portion of the Golden State as “California people”. In fact, I have so categorized them that I actually feel better about myself by thinking I am not like them (but I probably am). I think I am some how better than them by not being like them. Apparently, I have been deceiving myself into thinking that being prideful is better than being like them. What a mess!

It’s been eight years since we moved out of California (and more than 10 since I lived in LA). The distance and absence makes it even easier to speak of them as “those California people” without considering how I am stereotyping and objectifying them (even if there is a large measure of truth in it!). So when new folks (from Southern California)  started coming out to church and moving into leadership, I started to pick up on what I thought were his “California like” personality traits. But nevertheless, I really like him. We’ve invested time together and with our families and I never thought that I was categorizing him. Honestly, we’ve hit it off well and become good friends quickly (as have our wives). It wasn’t until our conversation today that I recognized how I had been sinning against him. I had fully expected him to fit into this category of California people and almost dismissed some things about him. But today, God shined light on my darkness. Today, God revealed my sin and has given his grace through repentance and restoration. Today, my sinful stereotype of Californians has been redeemed.

You see, today, I asked my friend how he was doing and he shared openly. No pretense, no holding back. He shared something that was on his heart and it wasn’t the “It’s all good, dude” I would expect from the “California people”. It was an honest, “I-am-working-through-this-and-holding-fast-to-the-gospel-type” response. What’s strange is that it wasn’t until after he shared that I realized I had not expected him to share like that. I was completely blind to my judgement and prejudice. But his transparency blew up my prejudice. As I’ve said, I didn’t even realize I had this prejudice until it was revealed and almost simultaneously smashed within one hour.

The God who promises to one day make all things new, has shed light into something that may seem very small: how I have stereotyped folks from where I am from. But in shedding light on that sin, I have found restoration of my affections for a city and people that I share a common history with.

So thank you Wirgs for shattering my view of us “California people”. I am humbled by your honesty. And thank you Jesus for the gospel that brings reconciliation between God and man as well as reconciliation among men.

Now, I don’t want to come down on this guy for doing a good job. We should all aspire to work with such vigor. All the same, it is funny to see someone act as though they are something they are not. His job is important and needed, valuable in and of itself yet he still pretends that he is really a policeman, acting as if that were the case. In the process, he seems a bit odd, even ridiculous.

I’ve heard Jerry Seinfeld say that “all men consider themselves as kind of a lower-level superhero.” As if we are really capable of doing things that we aren’t or we don’t have the authority to do. We tend to think we are better, greater and more important than we really are. In short we think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think (and we probably think too often of ourselves than we ought as well!).

In many ways, I’m no different then the policeman-wannabe-crossing-guard. I often think of myself as a better person than I really am. My heart grows proud because I do something good that would please God. Other times I think I am better than I really am because I actually served Jill without prompting. Or I think I am a better because I spend time teaching and praying with my children. While all of these are good things to aspire to be, they become idols when I place my worth and identity in them.

The truth is, if my identity is in my ability to do things to please God, I will ultimately come undone. If my identity is in being a husband to Jill, I will fail her and myself. And if my identity is my children or in being a parent, I will not “train them up in the way they should go.” Making any of these roles as my ultimate identity is in many ways no different from the crossing guard pretending he is really a policeman. On my own, by my own merit, I am unable to please God, love my wife or raise my children. If I make any of those roles my ultimate identity, I am set on a course for failure, disappointment and pain because I am trying to make something I am not define who I am.

But this does not lead me to despair. Because while I struggle with my natural desire to be a “lower-level superhero”, the greatest Hero ever, Jesus, has rescued me from myself – taking my sin and giving me his righteousness. My identity is no longer based on what I do or have done. My identity is the one given to me by Christ. He who knew no sin became sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God! (2 Corinthians 5:21) If this gospel truth truly penetrates my heart, I don’t have to live or die by how I serve God but rather see that God already loves we and am compelled to serve God because of how great he is! I no longer have think I am only good if I serve Jill well but am actually freed to love her like Christ loves the church because I have experience that love through the gospel. And I don’t consider myself a better person because I teach and pray with my kids but I am humbled and excited by the opportunity to proclaim the Good News to my children and ask God to transform them through his gospel.

So maybe the the crossing guard’s issue isn’t that he is aiming too high in pretending he is a policeman. He just is failing to see that through faith in Christ, through the gospel, he’s could actually identify with something far superior!

The gospel exposes our pretending. It shows us that we’re not as good as we think we are. Yet it also tell us that because of Christ’s work on the cross, we’re actually better than we think we are. We need not try to prove that, we simply have to believe it.

I saw her approach a couple other guys coming out of the store and they handed her some change. I said a short prayer and grabbed all the coins I keep in my cup holder. Got out of the car and headed in.

“Hey baby. Hey baby, Do you have a quarter honey? I’m just a little short and can use some help.” That was her opening line. Once again, my heart sank because that seemed entirely too forward an approach for a young girl to take.

“I have a few quarters. Here, this is all I have right now. Take it. We all come up short and I’m glad I can be of help.” I said to her as I was walking toward the door.
“Thank you baby” she said. It wasn’t so much what she said (really don’t think anyone has called me baby since I was in diapers!) but the way she said it that made me feel very uncomfortable. I have been propositioned by prostitutes on multiple occasion when I lived in California. This girl probably wasn’t doing that on this night. It was just the overtly sexual way she requested money that made me uncomfortable. Not that I thought she may be coming on to me but that she would use her sexuality to extract money from me (or anyone else). I wasn’t angry, jut sad. Sad that this girl was going up to lots of different guys and talking them up just to get a quarter. Sad that there wasn’t much I could do.

I went inside and bought our drinks and prayed again. Before I headed back outside, it hit me. “Dummy, you can give her something. You can give her the hope beyond what she is doing. The problem isn’t merely that she is putting herself into dangerous situations, it’s that she is settling for this as the way to live her life. I can talk to her and listen. By God’s grace, I can show her how Christ has changed me from someone who would at best dismiss her and at worst objectify her into someone who is compelled to serve her and tell her about the Gospel.

She engaged me again with the “Hey baby” stuff and poured on a bunch of compliments. I handed her the change I just got from the store, looked her right in the eye and said, “What are you doing out here? Are you okay?”
“Yeah, baby, I’m fine,” she answered.
“Seriously, what are you doing out here and how can I help you?”
“I’m just trying to get some cigarettes. That’s why I am out here. Just getting some change.” She proceeded to ask me what I do for a living. I told her that I work as a chiropractor and am in training to be a pastor. She responded as I would have expected.
“I hope you don’t think bad of me. I’m not really a bad person. I just do this to get by. I use to go to church. We’re Christians. Just stopped going. Wish I had listened to my mom. She gave me lots of good advice and I just didn’t listen to her and now I know she was right all along. I mean you’re a pastor and all, you probably think I am doing something horrible here.”
“Well, actually, I am not sure what you are doing out here. I am just concerned that you are alright out here by yourself.”

What followed was her pouring her heart out. I heard of how she struggled in her childhood with a learning disability, how she is still on SSI, how she has to live a life she doesn’t like at all because that’s the way it is. I just listened. She cried and laughed but the wall came down a bit. Sure, she still paused to ask others for change but in the moments when no one came by, she shared quite openly.

She told me that her life went really bad when she was young. Her dad drank a lot and completely neglected her and her twin sister. He would only pay attention to them when he would do crazy stuff in his drunken highs. At about this time, a man in his late forties rode by on his bicycle. She stopped him and said to me, “I want you to meet my boyfriend.” She introduced me to the guy on the bicycle as “a pastor” and he shook my hand saying, “God bless you,” in an alcohol-slurred dialect and rode away.

She continued on with how she doesn’t like living with him but doesn’t have anywhere else to go right now. She wants to go back to school and “straighten out her life”.

“You probably think I’m a mess, don’t you?” She asked me,
“Not really. None of us are good. We are all a mess. Believe me, I no better than you, I just have been forgiven because of Jesus.”
“Oh, I believe in Jesus Christ. He is my Lord and Savior. I just don’t go to church anymore. I love the Lord though.”
“That’s great. Can I just ask you one thing? If you love the Lord, what in your life shows that?” I don’t think I asked it as an accusation. I believe it was said in love.
“Yeah, I don’t really know. I guess I just like things that don’t make me look good or I’ve made bad decision and love other stuff too. I swear I’m not a bad person.”
“You know, it doesn’t really matter what I think of you. It’s what God see that matters the most. And you know what? He thinks you are settling for less than the best He has for you. You are finding joy in lesser things. He wants you to know that He is the ultimate joy. He loves you and will provide people to help you and care for you.”

She was a bit shocked. She’s spent her whole young life seeking pleasure and I was telling her that she wasn’t aiming high enough. I told her more about the gospel and she listened. I’d like to tell you that she repented and came to faith right then but I have no way of knowing. The Spirit moves where and when He wants. But I can tell you what happened next. She teared up and asked if she could use my phone. She wanted to call her sister. I let her. And she talked to her sister who apparently was in a worse situation than she. Her sister was crying and the girl told her she was talking with a “pastor” and handed me the phone. Her sister didn’t really want to talk to me (she was just crying) so I didn’t get to say much. She looked at me and said, “She needs to talk to a man, it would be good for her.” I told her that if she needed someone to talk to I would listen but if she needs a man just to make her feel better, I’m not that guy.

She ended the conversation with her sister and talked to me a bit more. Turns out she lives in the neighborhood where our church has a cafe. She knows about it. I invited her to stop by, to come meet some of the people there and meet some of the ladies that would love to talk with her and help her out. She said she would. Then she turned and walk over to a group of guys and started the whole act over again.

I was sorrowful and rejoicing at the same time. I was sad that she had been the victim of her dad’s sin. That she had been so abused. Sad that this city is so fully of homes where kids go to sleep without a dad. Sad that I grew up without my dad at home. Sad that this girl was so hopeless. Yet, I was rejoicing as well. Rejoicing in the knowledge that God is the True Father that even the best earthly fathers can only point us to. Rejoicing that for 30 minutes outside a convenience store, this girl shared her broken life with me and I could offer her a bit of hope. Rejoicing in the truth of 2 Corinthians 5:20… God continually makes his appeal through broken people like me.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. (2 Corinthians 5:17-20)

Being reminded to groan implies at least two things: 1) We are aware of the pain and suffering in broken earth, and 2) We long for the shalom found in the New Earth. The pain we see and experience in this world leads many Christians to remove themselves from it. To stop reading the papers or the watching the news. To spend most of their time with Christians or to only be with Christians. In short, to isolate themselves to avoid facing the pain of this world. But I believe we should see the pain, we should suffer with those that suffer and mourn with those who mourn. For we have a hope that far exceeds the suffering in this world. The apostle Paul refers to the pain here as “a light and momentary affliction” (2 Corinthians 4:17). When Jesus makes all things new, the suffering and pain of this world will seem insignificant when compared to the immeasurable glory to come. And knowing that, believing that, SHOULD cause us to groan.

So, I am thankful for brothers like Larry who remind me not to dismiss the suffering; not to look past it, but to see it in view of the restoration that is to come. So that in the suffering, a longing for Christ to establish His Kingdom grows.

For example, just look at the amount of garbage, literal trash, that is strewn about the streets. I have lived in a few of the country’s 100 large cities (Los Angeles, San Francisco and Santa Rosa) yet Philadelphia is by far the dirtiest. The first couple of times I saw people throw their fast food bags into the streets, I admit I was a bit surprised and I really didn’t know how to respond. Do I yell at them to pick it up? Do I try to explain how damaging that can be? Do I just stand there with my mouth wide open in disbelief?

This week, I parked next to the water drain on our block, I noticed the smell was more like garbage than actually old rain water (not to mention that it was nearly filled with trash)! In many ways, the streets of our city have become the people’s trash can. The disregard for cleanliness and sanitation is saddening to me. It’s as though there is no regard for what happens when trash backs up water drains or what the consequences of garbage in the streets might be. Seemingly no thought for how their trash taints the beauty of this city. How the smells take away from the scene. How the unsightly piles of trash mar the beauty of the city’s weathered brick row homes.

Look, I write this not as a rant against Philadelphians and the municipal services nor as a call for environmental awareness (though all are probably warranted to some degree), I write this because in it I see a picture of the gospel.

Like the people throwing trash into the streets, I “throw” my garbage on God’s holiness more often than I’d like to admit. I doubt His promises. I question His goodness. I forget His faithfulness. My sin is like a pile of trash in the streets of God. I am often unsightly and not good reflection of His beauty. But God doesn’t yell “Hey! Pick that up you’re making a mess of the place!” No not at all. He steps in to my mess and cleans up my trash for me. Not only that, He empowers me to stop littering. Sure, it’s a slow process (I’m a pretty messy individual) but through His Son, I am cleaned up.

The problem in Philadelphia isn’t a lack of trash cans, it’s a lack of gospel transformation. It’s the lack of people who have been changed by the gospel, living to see others changed by the gospel. Knowing what God has done for me and in me, perhaps the proper response to seeing people throw trash on the city streets is simply to go and pick it up myself.

Thankfully, I got everything done just before the store closed. As I got in line to pay, the guy in front of me was checking out and a little short of cash. “What am I going to do?” He said to the girl at the register. She appeared less than interested and just wanted the guy to go. He looked at me and said, “I’m a dollar short, can you believe it?”
Normally, I wouldn’t blog about my “good deeds” as I wouldn’t want to waste my reward here as opposed to storing it up in heaven (read Matthew 6:1-2) but I have to share this one because it is what God did with me after the fact that is my point. But let’s get back to the story…

So I set the dollar on the counter as I said, “I’ll gladly help you out. We all come up a bit short, don’t we?”

As he thanked me continually he said, “Do you like movies?” I thought that an odd thing to ask in the circumstances, but said, “Yes” anyway. “I’ll give you a movie, that’s what I do for a living. And that’s when I realized I may have made a mistake. That’s when I noticed that he was buying a very large spindle of blank DVDs.

Now I was born in Los Angeles and have been around people in the film industry. This guy, while shifty eyed, talking fast and smelling a bit like smoke, may have been able to fool others into believing he was in the industry, not so with this seasoned Angeleno. I realized I just helped a guy buy DVDs so that he could make more pirated DVDs to sell illegally.

“I’ve got a movie for you buddy,” he said excitedly. “It’s the right thing to do. Giving you something for what you gave me is the right thing to do.”

I wish I could have said something else. I wish that in that moment I had something helpful to say but all I came up with was, “No, the right thing to do is to help someone in need. Please don’t steal my joy by having to repay me. It’s not grace if you earn it.”

Yeah, he didn’t really understand that.

So, when I got outside. He was waiting for me to give me a movie. I’d like to say that I stood my ground and said no thanks or something like that, but I didn’t. I let him give me something, said thanks, waited for him to leave and tossed the DVD into the trash.

As I drove back home, I was thinking about how I had just tried to help someone in need only to find him using the help for less than good purposes. I was a bit frustrated with myself for not being more discerning. Had I just, even in a small way, been guilt of aiding and abetting a minor criminal? This guy is a scammer and thinks nothing of it.

And then I recognized that I am no better than a “copyright-breaking-DVD-pirate”. All too often I steal from God. I think more highly of myself than I ought to and take credit for things for which God alone deserves the glory. I am a “law-breaking-glory-pirate” trying to pass off myself as my own copy of God, hoping others will buy it. Ouch!

But God still offers undeserved grace to me. He sent His Son to live the life I couldn’t live and die a death in my place. He has called me as an ambassador of His grace. Yes, it kind of stinks that by showing grace to this guy, I kind of helped him to continue his illegal operation. But offering grace is what I am to do, even if it is to people who don’t deserve it… just like me.

There have been multiple robberies at gunpoint in the neighborhood next to us. People are looking for peace…. This world is so broken.

The Northeast’s largest strip club recently opened just blocks from our church. Many will seek satisfaction in things that don’t satisfy. Many families will be destroyed because of this. How many kids won’t have their daddy tuck them in tonight because they are paying a woman to undress? How many women will feel unwanted because of man’s sin? How many women will falsely feel wanted when it is only to satisfy sinful urges of cowardly men…. This world is so broken.

There’s a guy typing this blog who thinks, even for a second, that because he doesn’t go to these clubs, he is somehow better than the guys that do…. This world is so broken.

There’s a God who created the universe simply by speaking it into existence and Who upholds existence by the Word of His mouth…. This God is so holy.

There’s a God who created man and woman to live in perfect peace and harmony; in shalom. A God who Himself lives in perfect shalom in three persons…. This God is so holy.

There is a God who in his infinite perfection has “eyes too pure to look on evil, and you cannot tolerate wrong.” (Habakkuk 1:13)…. This God is so holy.

There is a God who uses even our own evil to vindicate His great name (Ezekiel 36:22, 23)…. This God is so holy.

There is a God who is so incomprehensibly perfect that even beings created to worship Him must cover their eyes in His presence as not to be struck down by His glory (Isaiah 6:2-3)…. This God is so holy.

There is a Savior who was separated from His Father so that His enemies might be reconciled to Him and each other…. This Gospel is so sufficient.

There is a Savior who gave up shalom so that those in pain might find shalom…. This Gospel is so sufficient.

There is a Savior who went to the places “good people” didn’t, seek the broken, the prostitute, the orphan the widow, the drunkard, to offer them living water that truly satisfies. (John 4:13-14)

There is a Savior who lived a perfect life, died a brutal death and rose again in victory over Satan, Sin and Death…. This Gospel is so sufficient.

There’s a Savior who, even though perfectly righteous, takes your sin as His own and gives His righteousness to those who believe…. This Gospel is so sufficient.

While it may seem like nothing is wrong with this picture, let me contrast it with how the first few weeks of life in the city were for us.

I would come home and we would go for a walk. We’d take our kids to the local playground each day and meet new people. We would sit outside and talk to our neighbors. We were new to the neighborhood and people knew it, so they talked with us. But now the newness is beginning to fade and routine is starting to set in. O how I must fight against complacency! I need to not listen to the lies: “You’re tired, it’s been a long day.” “You don’t need to go out and meet people, you’ve done enough this week.” On and on they spin.

Truthfully, missional living is not easy. You have to die to yourself and follow Christ. And that is the call to Christians. It is hard but it it joy-filled. Nothing harder, yet nothing greater.

So in my struggle to get myself out of the house the last couple of days, I was encouraged by a letter placed on our door recently. It read:
“Walker Street Block Party”
Yup, that’s right. If I was going to struggle with going to them, God was going to bring them to us. To our block even.

He continues to meet me in my weakness. Not to berate me or cut me down, but to gently encourage me and remind me that I am not the one determining the fate of my neighbors. He doesn’t really need me in Philadelphia to grow His Kingdom. It is a distinct privilege that I get to witness what He is doing in Philly and be used as I am. This just doesn’t seem fair. Why would I get so much when I’ve given so little?

It’s not fair. And that’s why it’s grace. So, would you pray for me to grow in accepting this? Would you pray that I would continue desire to share this with others, especially when I am tired?”

Last night, while checking out the cereal, a guy asked me if my “Don’t Waste Your Life” T-shirt had anything to do with John Piper.

“You know, John Piper?” I replied.

What followed was about a twenty-minute conversation and a new friendship. He and his wife had just moved to the city as well and are going to another A29 church in Philly. It was a special meeting because I think his wife was having trouble acclimating to city life and was encouraged by Jill’s words to her. Interesting, Jill has been kind of struggling with acclimating to city life and this opportunity to minister to someone was encouraging to her as well!

God is always working a million things in one thing and we are rarely aware of many of them! So while we planned to rush in and out getting what we wanted, God in his great grace, gave us an opportunity to receive something we needed. God wouldn’t let us waste our grocery shopping like that. How merciful is he?

This was a good reminder to not waste even the little experiences. Look for people in need, wait for God to provide for your needs. Don’t waste even the mundane, because God is at work!