Call to Prayer

On Sunday I posted about the reality of the spiritual battle in this world.  On Monday a dear friend put out a call for prayer against the battle raging on her campus.  On Tuesday more than one speaker in class talked about the reality of spiritual warfare and how we need to be prepared and to fight.

Now I write to all of you and ask you to join us.    Whether you believe it or not, we are engaged in a very real battle.  Most people can’t see it.  Many people ignore it.  However, no matter how much you ignore something, it doesn’t change its reality.

As Christians, one of the most dangerous beliefs we can have is that this battle is not for real. That’s exactly what Satan wants us to believe.  If we believe it is not real, they by default we believe that we do not have to fight, for we would not fight something that is not real.

This is a lie.  It is real.  The Bible tells us so.  Ephesians 6 tells us that we do not war against flesh and blood, but against the powers of darkness.  1 Peter 5 tells us that our enemy prowls around like a roaring lion.  Jesus himself tells us that he has given us power over the authorities (Luke 10).  Why would he give us power if we didn’t need to use it?

We use our power by praying.  That’s how we tap into it.  And that is the purpose of this call to prayer.

On Friday, November 19 students at Kuyper College in Grand Rapids will be joining together in a prayer walk at 4pm, with the intent of praying into this battle.   They have invited people all over to join them in prayer, from wherever they are.  So I ask you, will you join in fighting this battle with us?  From wherever you, on Friday at 4pm Michigan time (or really whatever time works for you), please join us in prayer for this battle.  The victory is ours; we just need to use our power.  This war is real.

"Some one is trying to kill me!"

What bothered me most was how real it was. The detail was exceptionally clear.  Some people even had names and I could remember little, seemingly insignificant, things about them - hairstyles, hearing aids, glasses, clothes... It was so vivid it felt real.  I was shaking as I lay in my bed, absolutely convinced that someone was trying to kill me.
The logical, rational part of my brain knew it was just a dream.  That part of me knew that there wasn't some person out there who was trying to kill be because I knew something.  That part of me knew that some one named Alyssa hadn't been mistaken for me and killed in place of me, that I wasn't running from the authorities, that I wasn't getting ready to be disappeared for my own safety.
But the illogical, emotional part of brain was terrified.  I was shaking. Someone was trying to kill me.  Someone had been killed in my place and I didn't know who I could trust or where I could go to be safe. I couldn't tell if the people offering me refuge were being genuine or if they just wanted to get me somewhere where they could get me dead.  For that part of my brain, this nightmare was real.
I couldn't shake the feelings that accompanied these thoughts, so in the safety of my room I gave them permission to exist for awhile. As they existed I thought about them...I allowed myself to entertain slightly irrational thoughts for awhile.  Was it possible that someone was trying to kill me?  Did I know something that was important enough that someone wanted me dead?  As I sat with these slightly irrational thoughts I began to realize they weren't so irrational at all...the answer was staring me in the face from the pages of my open catechism (I'd been working on a lesson plan based on Q&A 127 about "lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil").  1 Peter 5:8 --> Be self-controlled and alert.  Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
"a roaring lion looking for someone to devour"  that sounds like someone is trying to kill me for sure.  Thankfully I have devil-lion fighting skills and that stupid devil doesn't get to devour me.

The more I thought about it in this light, the more it made sense.  Someone was killed instead of me.  Except it wasn't a girl named Alyssa, but a man, who was fully G-d and fully human, named Jesus.  And I do know something that someone (ie: that jerk of a devil who is prowling around like a lion) wants me dead for: I know that Jesus didn't stay dead, but rose again for the salvation of the world. As far as not knowing who I could trust, that fit right in too.  The devil is the father of all lies and is super good at deception.  Sometimes he can appear trustworthy, but really he's just being tricky and trying to get me where he can make me dead.

Maybe I think too much about life or maybe G-d decided that He wanted to send me a reminder of how real this battle is that we live in every day (since I obviously wasn't getting that from my lesson plan work).
I like how Eugene Peterson puts it in The Message:

God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we'll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels.

Be prepared. You're up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it's all over but the shouting you'll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You'll need them throughout your life. God's Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other's spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.

                                        -Ephesians 6:10-18

This is no little game, this is for real.  Thankfully G-d is on my side and through Him I have devil-lion fighting skills and the devil doesn't get to kill me, even though he is trying.  Take that Jerkface!

Authority

Yesterday was the first swim meet of our season.  Swim team has always held a special place in my heart.  For many years, I knew where I would be every Saturday morning.  I can still locate the pool in every town that has a pool in the area. I swam for the Palmerston Piranhas (now the Minto Minnows due to redrawing of municipal lines) until I aged out at 18.  I helped coach  the 8 and under swimmers, especially in entries and turns.  Many of those 8 and under swimmers have now aged out, many of those still left are swimming in the oldest age group (one is still swimming 11/12, but he was about 3 when I coached him).  Between my own races I would help with marshalling.  Marshalling is the process of sorting all the swimmers into heats and lanes and making sure they get to the right lane at the right time for their race.  For 25m events it also means getting the cards to the timer at the end of the pool.  The older kids are very good and putting themselves in order (they can read and understand their own cards), but for the wee ones it involves leading them from one marshalling bench to the next to the end of the pool and checking and re-checking their cards.  I loved it.
Then I got old and aged out.  I started working camp jobs during the summers and was never home for meets.  I figured I was done with swim team.  Then, this spring the decision was made to start a transition to a software program called "Meet Manager".  The only problem with this transition - no one knew how to run the software. Mom was unofficially put in charge of it since she has been grand marshaller for years. But Mom is a busy lady and not always the greatest with computers, especially learning new things (she is getting better, for reals).  I, on the other hand, am not as busy as Mommy and I love computers.  It was only natural that I learn the software and then come to the meets to help with the transition.
As I learned the software, I came to realize that some pretty important decisions were going to need to be made.  Decisions that would affect all the coaches and swimmers, and the running of the meets. At first I was going to Mom or Mr. Lucas (an important parent volunteer who pulls a lot of weight in the league) with every question.  This got old pretty fast. It made progress slow.  I started making decisions on my own.  Every time I made a decision I was backed by Mr. Lucas.  If I e-mailed coaches and said that I needed their entries by a certain time, Mr. Lucas supported that.  After yesterday's meet, when I decided that we would not be able to accept Saturday morning entries next week and e-mailed coaches indicating this (under the old system we always accepted Saturday morning entries...all entries were done Saturday morning), Mr. Lucas sent out a follow-up e-mailing informing coaches that what I said went.  We will not accept Saturday morning entries and the deadline I had set for entries was going to stick.
I'm a nobody.  I never was anybody important in the racing world. I was never particularly "good", never earned my team lots of points, don't have finances to support the purchases on new and better equipment, I don't have a coaching certificate.  I have nothing that should give me authority, yet I have it.  I have it because Mr. Lucas is backing me every step of the way and he has authority (he's a grown-up who contributes a lot to the league in a lot of ways) and he has given authority to me. If I had started trying to change things on my own, it would not have worked, but because I have the authority he has given me, I can make decisions and changes.
This made me think about something we talked about a lot at school this last year and something I've done a little reading on at home this summer. I still have a ton to learn, so this might not be completely sound, but it's my thoughts. As believers we have authority.  Jesus says to his disciples that he has been given authority (Matt. 28) and he says to his disciples that he gives them authority (Luke 10).  As his disciples, that means we have authority too.  Just as Mr. Lucas could give me authority because he had it, Jesus can give us authority because he has it.  Once I had authority from Mr. Lucas I could take care of some things on my own, without going through him, likewise (the way I understand what I've been reading), there are certain things on earth that we can take care of without having to go through Jesus.  That doesn't mean we don't need Jesus...by no means. Without the backing of Mr. Lucas, I'd be a nobody with no authority. Without Jesus, I'd be even more of a nobody.  With the backing of Mr. Lucas, I can say to a coach "until this point you can make changes, but then it is final".  With the backing of Jesus I can say to an evil spirit "you have to leave this alone", and it's not in my own authority (cuz I have none), but in the authority that Jesus has given me.  I think that's pretty nifty.
If you want to read more about this, I recommend "The Believer's Authority" by Kenneth E. Hagin.  I don't understand all that he writes, but he is clearer than I.

Luke 8:22-25, with paintings

A couple weeks ago I was at a bi-monthly gathering called Encounter: I Am.  Encounter: I Am is basically a bunch of people from a bunch of different denominations and places in life hanging out corporately with Jesus. I've gone a number of times since last semester and it's pretty neat.  Anyhow, as part of the evening we spend some time reflecting in depth on scripture.  The text that week was from Luke 8:22-25.  (Story Time!)
Jesus and his disciples were in a boat crossing the sea.  Jesus was pretty tired after a long day of preaching and caring for people so he laid down to take a nap.  A bunch of his disciples were ex-fishermen, so he was in good hands. However, while Jesus was napping a storm happened.  His disciples freaked out.  Big time freak out. Not only did none of them know how to swim, they were out in the  middle of a lake.  Their belief system had taught them that the kindgom of darkness resided at the bottom of still bodies of water such as lakes.  Not only were they likely to drown, they were going to drown right into the kindgom of darkness.  Not cool.  However, they had been walking with Jesus for awhile and had figured out that he was a pretty cool guy and could do stuff.  So they woke him up.  Now Jesus is awake and the disciples are freaking out. "Jesus!  We're going to drown!  Do you care?  How can you stay asleep?"  (There were 12 disciples...so probably all 12 of them were talking all at once)  Jesus looks at them and I can just imagine the look in his eyes as he says "Where is your faith?"  Then, being the cool guy that he is, he raises his arms and tells the wind and the waves to be quiet.  Bam!  The storm is over.  We don't read it in Luke, but in one of the other Gospels the words that Jesus says are the same words that he uses when he casts out demons.  I imagine the disciples just looking at each other in awe and wonder...even the wind and the waves obey him....
Anyhow, we spent a lot of time with this passage and asked G-d to show us where we were in the story.  While we were thinking deeply about the story and praying through it, I grabbed an index card from my bag and made a couple sketches, sketches of what the story meant for me.  I sat on them for about a week.  Then I decided to put them to paint.  Here's the results:

(The green on the right says: Lean not on your own understanding; Depend not on your own strength.)

Sometimes life throws us curveballs.  Sometimes there are storms and we are afraid we are going to drown.  Sometimes I don't know how much longer I can keep my head above the water. Sometimes, like the disciples I cry out to Jesus and ask him if he really cares about me, if he cares that I am drowning.  Then I can feel him looking at me and asking me where my faith is and reminding me that I don't need to depend on my own strength.  Then in a display of his power:

Not in my power, not because I want the storm to end, but because Jesus commands the storm to end.  His power ends it all. And in his power I can rest:

(from left to right the text reads:  Rest in ME. I have this all under control.,  My hand is holding you., I will fight for you.,  You are MY girl worth fighting for., I will never let you go.)

No matter what happens, my Jesus is strong enough to end the storm and I can rest in His arms. There might be clouds in the sky, life might get rough, but I don't need to be afraid.  Not ever.  He's got me and I am His girl worth fighting for.

Paint goes on Paper not People

About once a month the bell choir plays in church.  Since I am in the bell choir I have to be at the 9am service to play.  Since I am a college student, I typically stay for second service too before going to lunch.  So, about once a month I get to hear the same sermon twice in one Sunday.  This is not neccessarily a bad thing, because it means the second time around I can listen differently and reflect more.  Both very good things. 
Yesterday's sermon text came from Colossians 2:13-15 which, in the NIV reads: When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
Pastor Jon talked about a lot of things, but what I focussed in on was verse 14: "having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross."  I liked verse 15 too, but verse 14 stuck in my brain.  Pastor Jon talked about the written code and explained that it was a very technical term. 
In New Testament times, when Paul was writing this letter, if you needed to borrow money, you went to the equivalent of a loan shark and told them how much you needed to borrow.  The money lender then had you sit down and write out, in your own hand writing how much money you were borrowing, when you were going to pay it back, and what was going to happen if you didn't pay it back.  That way, when you failed to pay back your loan, he could take you before the judge and show the judge the agreement in your hand writing...there was no getting out of it.
With that understanding we looked at the passage again.  Pastor Jon said that satan had a type of written agreement against each of us.  A list of our sins and short comings and he uses that written agreement to condemn us.  After all, it is in our own handwriting.  However, Jesus wrestled that agreement away from satan and it was nailed to the cross with Jesus.  He took our condemnation upon himself.
The first time heard the sermon I just sat in that truth (and made faces at the super cute baby sitting behind me).  The second time I was already dwelling on that truth when Pastor Jon got to it. While he was talking a line from a song popped into my head (as lines from songs are prone to do when I am being comptemplative) along with an image.  So I grabbed a note card and made a sketch. 
I spent rest the afternoon painting instead of doing my homework.  I think painting was clearly a better choice.  Now while I was painting, the hockey game was also going on so I was following it, and I got a phone call so I was also talking on the phone, and I was listening to music...so, remembering the rule that paint goes on paper not people got a little tricky.  I ended up with large amounts of orange paint in my hair, and lots of other colors on my arms and hands, but it happens.  Here's the results of yesterday's comptemplation:

Christ took my "written code" and nailed it to the cross.  I bear it no more.  But he didn't just take my written code, he took everyone's written code...they are all on the cross and we bear them no more.  I know of no better news.