Theology for the Masses

What are interested when it comes to theology?  Are those the things you do well or have a passion to do well? 

Well, what about your theological disinterests?  What do they say about you?  Are they areas of growth, are they areas of sin? 

What about the communities of which you are apart?

The Closing Prayer at my BSU talk:

Father, we come to you tonight asking you to help us see your will through that which you have reveal to us in the Bible and to help us listen to the promptings and direction of THE SPIRIT.

You value justice. You ask, no, demand that your citizens seek justice for the oppressed. You have blessed us corporately beyond belief. You have blessed us individually according to your purposes. You have done this so that we might in turn bless others. Lord, OUR God, guide us.

Lord, God of Isaiah, we have seen that dumping does not work. You reveal to us in your Wisdom Literature that toil is valuable. Work is a good. It is not good for a [hu]man to be alone and it is not good that she does not work.

So, LORD, God of James, be a light unto our minds. Help us seek out the ways in which justice is being served. Help us to creatively close the gaps between those that horde and those that suffer because of it.

LORD, God of the Poor, we bring another request. Please help us see that your gift of grace is not just a get out of hell free card.

LORD, God over Boone County, help us to see that you are Lord of All.

LORD, God over Missouri, help us to respond to your grace in accordance with your will.

LORD, God over India, help us to submit our entire lives to your will, not just the parts that are easy.

LORD, God of Time, thank you for the blessings you bestow upon us.

LORD God of the Universe, help us to bless others as you have blessed us.

In our LORD Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Last night Tom, Amanda, and I wrote a Labor Day confession prayer which I prayed this morning at his church. Here it is…

God, you made the world and everything in it. You are Lord of heaven and earth and do not live in temples built by labor, and you are not served by human labor, as if you needed anything, because you yourself give all humanity life and breath and everything else.

We confess that far too often, we do not remember that you are the source of every good gift, of every breath we take and of every calorie of energy we exert.

And we confess that in our darkest moments, we do not want gifts, handouts. Because to us, handouts are for losers. Handouts are for dropouts. Handouts are for beggars on roadsides. Handouts are not for us.

Because we are a people who labor. Our bodies labor to earn so we can eat, buy, sell and secure. Our minds labor with anxiety over all we must accomplish and all we leave undone. Our souls labor endlessly to win your affections – as though your heart could be won by the sweat of our brow. We labor, we produce, we strive, and all too often we consider ourselves worthy and deserving of that with which you have given us.

We confess that we often allow the labor of our hands to distract us from the work that your Spirit is accomplishing in our world – in your world.

Let us remember that you created us in six days, that at the end of your labors, you rested.

Let us remember that the work of our hands is to sow the seeds of our own destruction, not our salvation.

And let us remember that from those first days, you did not rest again until you laid in the Tomb, having accomplished in your work the redemption that all our labors could not purchase for us.

Let us remember that our salvation was a gift given out of the very depths of your love for us, and that it was given freely, graciously.

Let us remember that we are more than producers, more than the sum of our labors, more than our portfolios and purchasing power. Because at the foot of the cross, we are all beggars in need of the handout you so freely extend to us.

This is a weekend in which we break the surface of the sea of our daily toil to draw a collective breath to break from our many labors. So teach us in this time to rest as you created us to rest. Teach us to pause from our production. And in that rest, in that pause, give us eyes to see where your Spirit is already at work, that we may join into your labors. Because we confess that your work -

- proclaiming good news to the poor

- freedom to the prisoner

- healing the sick

- releasing those who suffer oppression

- and doing the hard work of justice

- these labors are what the Spirit anointed your Son to accomplish, and what we as his body are anointed still to do. Let us fill our brief lives with the work of your kingdom. Let the work of our hands become the work of your body, and your Son.

For in this hour together, we look to Jesus, through whom we know and receive your many good gifts and in whose name we gratefully pray.

President Obama Offers Religious Continuity with Previous Presidents by Robert Parham

Warren Prays, Not in Jesus’ Name, but in Jesus’ Names  by Mark D. Roberts

Say Amen! A Benediction by Pastor Bob Cornwal

First of all, then, I urge that requests, prayers, intercessions, and thanks be offered on behalf of all people, even for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. (1 Timothy 2:1-2 NET)

In recent days, given the current season that our country is in, I have been coming back to this over and over. I have a question for anyone who wants to chime in. Paul urges us (παρακαλῶ) to pray for all people. Then he tells us what is meant by all people: kings and all who are in authority. I like that the NET brings out the radical-ness of this request by Paul in saying that Timothy should pray for Rome. My question is this, what does it look like for a 21st century Christian to pray for “kings and all who are in authority? How do we pray for them?

Father,

we are children who have been given much. You have blessed us with an abundance of all things: food to fill our stomachs, every kind of entertainment to distract and occupy our minds, and every opportunity to adorn our bodies with things

stuff

the trappings of our culture that we think make us beautiful.

Father,

you teach us that the day will come when we are stripped bare of everything we hold dear, everything that we tell ourselves defines who we are, all the things we tell ourselves make us beautiful. And on that day, all you will see are those things that truly define who we are, those things that truly matter because they are the things that matter to you. And you will determine if, in fact, we are truly beautiful.

Father,

may you find on that day children who care really and truly for our brothers and sisters, your beloved creatures crafted so lovingly in your own image. May you find that we were never guilty of stealing from them those things they need to express that image fully.

Teach us to strip ourselves of the finer things of our culture that we may clothe ourselves with the finer things of your kingdom culture. Give us eyes that see the beauty that your eye beholds, that we may learn how to become beautiful in your eyes.

Please pray for Casey.  He has some exciting job opportunities on the horizon.

Jake Malloy was another person who prayed at the Parkade Baptist Church “Battle for America” Concert of Prayer.  He prayed a prayer of repentance, one that was modeled after the fruits of the spirit.  Here is a taste:

I apologize that the commandment of love You set above all others we have treated so lightly, Forgive us, please, for not loving You with all our hearts because our earthly treasures consume us. Forgive us for not loving with all our souls because we corrupt them and treat our and others’ souls as if they were not eternal. Forgive us our unloving minds that spend little time studying who You are. We repent of using our strength to serve ourselves rather than serving others with the strength You provide. Forgive us, Father, for creating a structure where Christians are expected to be consumers rather than productive servants.

I encourage you to read and pray the rest here.