Tag Archive for ‘calling’ at Serving Bread

Tag Archive for 'calling'

Intercession and Calling, Part VI: Conclusions

Published

on November 17, 2007

. 1 Comment

Thanks for visiting my blog, Serving Bread. Here you'll read stories, insights, reflections and ramblings from a campus minister, father, husband and Jesus-follower. If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to the RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

(Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V) (The article in its entirety is found in the Resources section)

BEST PRACTICES

As I mentioned in the footnote above, there are many definitions for intercession and this paper is by no means a final or complete word on the subject. My hope through this paper is to articulate and clarify how intercession can inform our calling in ministry and how the lack of intercession can defeat us.

Here are some practical ways that have aided my intercession:

Read the Bible: The more I read the Bible, the more I know the character and heart of God. I am better at connecting with God when I know him.
Keep a journal: I keep a journal where I record my joys and disappointments. This gives me a record of what is irritating me and what is propelling me to joy.
Be real: Work hard not to explain away or avoid disappointments. I want to experience the disappointment for what it is. The more I can recognize the disappointment, the more equipped I feel in connecting with God and asking him for transformation. By expressing my feelings toward the disappointment, I am able to better articulate the pain I feel and why I want God to bring change. Disappointment may be the most valid emotion when we confront the realities of the world. Avoiding it will not help us articulate how we need Godâ€™s transformation in our lives and our situations.
Ask for input: I am not as self-aware as I would like. Having people speak into my disappointments and realities, allows me to recognize if I am avoiding my problems and disappointments, or engaging them, which then propels me back into intercession.
Struggle with God: By entering into intercession, I find myself praying and struggling with God for wisdom. I like the picture of Jacob who wrestles until the Lord gives him a blessing. Our best intercession, and best engagement with the world, will come when weâ€™re persevering and wrestling in need of direction.
Believe the word: When God gives us a word, we need to believe and act on that word. That word can be a word of hope in the midst of empirical data that suggests otherwise. Faith is to believe and act on that word.

EPILOGUE

Intercession is an important and necessary practice that will lead us closer to Godâ€™s heart and vision. Without the practice embedded in our lives, we will allow disappointment to have the final word and it will shape our decisions. With it, we will experience new life and inspiring vision to engage our calling.

Disappointment is an expected emotion in ministry. People will disappoint us and our ministry contexts may often seem fruitless and bleak. We have a choice to respond to disappointment by turning to God or by turning to hopelessness. Hopelessness will invite defeatism and death into our spiritual lives. But when we turn to intercede, we invite ourselves to be shaped by God.

Ultimately, our calling will be shaped by God or by the emotional and spiritual death in our lives. A calling that is not rooted in God will have little faith for transformation in our world.

Disappointments in my life brought despair, cynicism and death. My faith was shaken and vision for people was uninspiring. I believed less and less in a God that would bring transformation and almost left ministry as a vocation. But when I chose to turn to God in intercession and receive promises and words that are from God, I experienced a renewed sense of calling into a world full of despair. The road to death invites us to receive our calling from the world. The road to life invites us to receive our calling from God. Ultimately, only Godâ€™s voice will inspire a calling that is compelling and powerful that will believe in Godâ€™s transforming power in our world.

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Intercession and Calling, Part III: The Choice

Intercession and Calling, Part V: Personal Case Study

Intercession and Calling, Part IV: A Biblical Case Study

Resources

Leadership Insight 21: Called

Published

Eddy E

on November 13, 2007

in Leadership

. 1 Comment

I heard a great quote over the weekend at an InterVarsity sponsored Leadership Conference. The speaker quoted Peter Drucker (one of the foremost experts on the study of leadership) as saying, “there may be ‘born leaders,’ but there surely are far too few to depend on them.” Drucker’s quote addresses the question that may comes up often: Are leaders born or made? Drucker seems to think that question as being irrelevant.

There is something freeing with what Drucker says. We do not need to disqualify ourselves from leadership because we don’t think we are ‘born leaders.’ Some people may have the ideal personality and gift types to bring leadership in important situations and organizations, but we will be shooting ourselves in the foot if we only look for those kinds of people to be leaders.

Development is the key to doing good leadership, not just identification of someone’s gifts or passions. If I spend more of my energy in identifying potential leaders and not developing them, then I risk of writing the eulogy to my ministry. The ministry that will last will be the one that not only identifies, but develops and trains the next generation of leaders.

And just as development is important to raising up younger leaders, it is important for my leadership as well. I need to continue to put myself in situations and settings that stretch my leadership and teach me new insights into being a better leader and a better leader developer.

There are plenty of books and resources on leadership, but the sheer volume of literature doesn’t necessarily reflect the reality on the ground. If I can be so bold as to say that my campus context is a microcosm of our world, we desperately need solid leaders who will lead people to the glory of God.

The call of leadership is not necessarily knowing that we have the gift of leadership. The call of leadership is to commit ourselves to the needs we see and to have a desire to address those needs.

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Leadership Insight 12: Watch and Learn

Leadership Insight 21: Affirmations

Leadership Insight 13: Giving of Self

Leadership Insight 30: It’s Messy

Intercession and Calling, Part V: Personal Case Study

Published

Eddy E

on November 7, 2007

in Reflections, Soul Talk and Theology

. 0 Comments

(Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV)

PERSONAL CASE STUDY

I have found myself on both sides of the intercession diagram. I have found myself allow disappointment turn to hopelessness to the point of death. And I have found myself turn to intercession and reconnect with God.

In 2003, my ministry was falling apart. There was little fruit to show for our labor, and my partners in ministry were abandoning me. I felt lonely, confused and disappointed by my realities. At that point, I tried turning to God, only to find myself unable to connect with Him.

My disappointment drove me to be hopeless which only served to chip away at whatever life remained in me. One pastor counseled me that I should count getting out of bed in the mornings as victory. My life had come to the point where simply choosing to wake up would constitute some sort of victory. My soul was dying as fast as my ministry.

This death began to inform my calling. I questioned whether I was adequate as a minister and especially as a minister on a college context. I questioned my gifts and my faith. And I re-visioned for my campus ministry context. I had small hopes for my students. I had small hopes for myself. My calling into ministry was full of faithlessness and full of small hopes. I began to believe the lies that this mission field was far too hard.

I traveled a cycle of death that hardened my heart to the vision of God. I felt ashamed and defeated, and I had plenty of excuses for all who were interested. At the end of this cycle, I decided along with other wise friends and advisors to change my ministry context. Though the decision to leave this ministry was wise at that point, it only reinforced my feelings of faithlessness and failure.

But I am grateful that God preserved a small remnant of faith within me that would take a couple years to be nurtured. In the summer of 2005, I found myself again disappointed by the realities of my world. I was disappointed by my leadership and by the lack of joy in ministry context. During that period, I began to study the book of Esther and I was struck by Mordecaiâ€™s admonition to his niece:

â€œFor if you keep silence at such a time as this, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another quarter, but you and your father’s family will perish. Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as thisâ€ (Esther 4.14).

The Lord spoke to me through this passage, asking me to consider whether I want to see him work or not. Would I shrink back or would I engage with God in ministry? Would I believe that God could bring deliverance to peopleâ€™s lives through me? Would I allow disappointment to lead me to perish? The decision before me was whether I would trust God to be with me and lead me in the areas of disappointments that had historically defeated me.

My disappointments began to be filtered through intercession. As I interceded for students and for the ministry, I sensed myself becoming closer to God and gaining a clearer picture of Godâ€™s work in my life. During those months, my wife and I were discerning whether to transition from ministry. As God formed my calling, he gave me new vision for the ministry, particularly the invitation to go back to the very ministry that once invested in my faithlessness and failure.

Intercession led me to God, and he defined my calling. And part of that calling was to re-engage a broken world. God sent me back into my initial campus context.

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Intercession and Calling, Part III: The Choice

Intercession and Calling, Part VI: Conclusions

Intercession and Calling, Part IV: A Biblical Case Study

Resources

Intercession and Calling, Part IV: A Biblical Case Study

Published

Eddy E

on October 31, 2007

in Reflections and Theology

. 2 Comments

(Part I, Part II, Part III)

BIBLICAL CASE STUDY

In Numbers 13, Moses sends out 12 spies to scout the land that God has given to them. These spies see how rich the land is and they recognize that the land is a gift from God to the Israelites. As they spy out the land, they recognize the reality of their worldâ€”that the land may be great, but the inhabitants are dangerous. The report back to Moses was negativeâ€”that the Israelites did not have what it takes to take over the land.

When they are disappointed by the realities of their world, the spies (save Caleb and Joshua) and what seems like the entire nation (Numbers 14.1) is devastated by the report. The entire nation is upset and disappointed, to the point that they would rather be in Egypt rather than at the frontiers of the Promised Land. There is no more hope left. Caleb and Joshua try to bring the word of hope, but the other spies drown out their voices. Hopelessness turns to desire for slavery.

Rather than turn toward God, the nation is turning away from God. As a consequence of their lack of faith and their hopelessness, God prevents anyone from that generation (except for Caleb and Joshua) from ever possessing the Promised Land. The Israelitesâ€™ hopelessness turns to death. They will die in the wilderness without experiencing the gift of God.

The Israelitesâ€™ lack of obedience informed their decision to turn against Godâ€™s vision. And that lack of obedience plays itself out throughout the 40 year journey. At the end of Numbers 14, the nation deceives itself into believing that by apologizing, they can regain Godâ€™s trust to take the land. Their desire to go to battle is yet another act of disobedience. In other words, their calling is being formed by disobedience and they re-engage realities through that lens.

The Israelites chose the path that leads to death. Contrast their story with that of Paul in Acts 18. His preaching produced mixed results. Some people responded in belief while others reviled him. And knowing Paulâ€™s story, the apostle was persecuted and beaten for his faith and his preaching. Paul recognizes the realities of the world and it does lead to disappointment. In Acts 18.6, he declares to the Jews, â€œYour blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.â€

Paul is disappointed with the Jewish response to the gospel. Immediately following this incident, God speaks to Paul in a vision, â€œDo not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to harm you, for there are many in this city who are my people.â€ (Acts 18.9-10) I imagine that Paulâ€™s disappointment was turned to intercession and Paul connected with God. In connecting with God, Paul had his calling re-enforced. Luke then tells us that Paul stayed in that place for another 18 months. Paulâ€™s disappointment took him to God. And God reinforced his calling to stay in the very place where he may have abandoned.

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Intercession and Calling, Part II: Intercession

Intercession and Calling, Part VI: Conclusions

Intercession and Calling, Part III: The Choice

Resources

Intercession and Calling, Part III: The Choice

Published

Eddy E

on October 25, 2007

in General

. 0 Comments

(Part I, Part II)

TWO CHOICES

When we confront discouragement, we have two choicesâ€”either to turn to intercession or to turn to hopelessness. And each path will lay a set of consequences. From experience, hopelessness tends to be the default mode for me. In other words, it takes more energy, discipline and intentionality to choose to intercede for a situation or person, rather than to be hopeless about it.

And though it would be easier if we only had to face the decision once, the reality is that we are constantly confronted by the issues associated with the realities of our world. We may choose to intercede and gain the proper authority from God to minister within that reality, only to be discouraged again.

Intercession

The continued and regular process of discouragement may over time thwart us from intercession to hopelessness. At the moment we open the door to hopelessness, we are inviting defeat and death into our lives. Success as a minister is not just defined by fruit (though fruit in ministry should give us some sense of direction). Success as a minister must also be defined by our resilience to suffer well (in light of discouragement), to turn to God for our identity and authority, and persevere as we re-engage the mission field.

Once a leader or minister turns to hopelessness, he or she has opened the door for defeat and failure in his or her ministry.

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Intercession and Calling, Part VI: Conclusions

Intercession and Calling, Part V: Personal Case Study

Intercession and Calling, Part IV: A Biblical Case Study

Resources

Intercession and Calling, Part II: Intercession

Published

Eddy E

on October 20, 2007

in Ministry, Reflections, Soul Talk and Theology

. 1 Comment

(Part I)

THE GIFT OF INTERCESSION

Life But rather than turn to hopelessness when confronted by discouragement, we can turn to intercession. By going to God, we gain truth. We gain truth about the situation. We may see spiritual realities and have a much better and informed perspective about the situation at hand and the realities of the world. Out of our time with God, our calling will be informed. We will see how God is calling us into the â€œhell of peopleâ€™s lives.â€

And when we are with God, God will empower us with wisdom (James 1.5). And he will equip us with what we need to enter into the realities of our world and to confront whatever the situation may be.

I believe we have a choice. We have a choice to respond by interceding and going before God or we can dwell in our hopelessness. Our response to discouragement will inevitably shape our calling and sense of mission.

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Intercession and Calling, Part VI: Conclusions

Intercession and Calling, Part V: Personal Case Study

Intercession and Calling, Part IV: A Biblical Case Study

Resources

Intercession and Calling, Part I: The way to death

Published

Eddy E

on October 17, 2007

in Ministry, Reflections, Soul Talk and Theology

. 5 Comments

For two years, I have been working on a reflection exercise that addresses calling and intercession. I was at a conference in November 2005, where God clarified the work of intercession in my life. I’ve broken up this article in several posts.

…

INTRODUCTION

The discipline of intercessory (I recognize there are many definitions for â€œintercession.â€ This paper will in no way capture all of what that means) prayer moves us to recognize who we are before God and who God is in all of his glory. I recognize there are many excellent books and resources on intercessory prayer. And many of those have deepened my prayer life. In this paper, I seek to draft a model for intercessory prayer that strengthens our calling in ministry. As I have grown deeper in my prayer life, I have recognized how prayer has shaped me to know God, and how the lack of prayer has power to lead me farther from God.

Too often, prayer can be relegated as an afterthought. It may be the thing we do to start or end a meeting. It is the time where we take prayer requests during a Bible Study. And it is the thing we might do when we start our day. But in the life of my ministry, I have discovered prayer to be the discipline that has led me to know God and know his purposes, especially in light of difficult and trying situations.

This model for intercession has paved the way for me to recognize the importance of prayer in my personal and ministry life.

THE WAY TO DEATH

The Way to Death Being in ministry, I am often confronted by the realities of sin and its impact on people. There are injustices that are committed against people that break my heart. To see people assaulted by the sin that exists in our fallen world makes me wonder if God is powerful enough to confront those principalities and deliver people from such darkness. Other times, we see people choosing into disobedience and dealing with the consequences of choosing against God.

Our world is fallen and it is impossible to escape the corrupting effects of the world around us. Any reflection or examination of these realities leads me to discouragement. I am easily discouraged when I recognize the world for what it is. One pastor commented that ministry is â€œthe call into the hell of peopleâ€™s lives.â€

But itâ€™s what we do with the discouragement that shapes our next steps. Discouragement can easily lead to hopelessness. To feel defeated in ministry and be discouraged by the realities of our world can lead to be hopeless. Hopelessness is a powerful force that can strip away any thoughts or faith in God. Hopelessness strips God from bringing change when everything else looks dead.

And hopelessness will lead to spiritual death. That death will make me numb to the realities and saving powers of God. My eyes will stop seeing the work of God and my mind will start believing that either God has abandoned me or that he is not at work in my life or in my ministry.

Spiritual death, as bad as it is in of itself, will eventually also inform my calling. Rather than lead with vision, I will lead with cynicism.

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Intercession and Calling, Part III: The Choice

Intercession and Calling, Part VI: Conclusions

Intercession and Calling, Part V: Personal Case Study

Intercession and Calling, Part IV: A Biblical Case Study