It’s done.

The 2008 Arlington Youth Dynamics banquet is done.

Last night was such a good time for fellowship and exposing this ministry to the community. We had over 180 folks show up! The preliminary totals are in and we’re just under $25,000. Praise God! We should also see more come in the next week or so. Many folks were going to pray about what to give - so keep praying for open and giving hearts!

Thanks for your prayers!

I’d appreciate your prayers for myself and most of the YD staff driving to our staff conference at Stonewater Ranch today. Yes, I was just there 2 days ago, but the snow has been dumping ever since. Being a southern boy, I don’t take kindly to driving in compacted snow and ice.  Above is the picture of Stevens pass - I’ll be going through there in a couple of hours, so keep me in your prayers! Be back in town Thursday.

After breakfast this morning we decided to try Lectio Divina with my kids. Miriam and I are attempting to expose them to spiritual practices and disciplines. I read a book a while back about this sacred act of reading scripture as a way of prayer. Though James, Aida, and Samuel are young (ages 5, 4, and 2 respectively), they’re never too young to delve into scripture or seek the Lord’s voice.

So for those of you who don’t know…

Lectio Divina is Latin for divine reading, spiritual reading, or “holy reading,” and represents a method of prayer and scriptural reading intended to engender communion with the Triune God and to provide special spiritual insights. It is a way of praying with Scripture that calls one to study, ponder, listen and, finally, pray from God’s Word.

It is basically meditative reading of scripture, not simply to read, but to consume it and listen. You pick a passage and will dwell on it. You’re not going for quantity or length of scripture, but simply selecting a passage and camping out on it. It is done in 4 basic stages.

1) Lectio

Read the passage slowly several times.

2) Meditatio

Reflect on the text of the passage, thinking about how to apply to one’s own life. Gravitate to any particular phrase or word that seems to be of particular importance. This is a very personal reading of the Scripture and application to one’s own life.

3) Oratio

Respond to the passage by opening the heart to God. This is not an intellectual exercise, but an intuitive conversation or dialog with God.

4) Contemplatio

Listen to God. This is a freeing oneself from one’s own thoughts, both mundane and holy. It is about hearing God talk to us. Opening our mind, heart and soul to the influence of God. Any conversation must allow for both sides to communicate, and this most unfamiliar act is allowing oneself to be open to hearing God speak. [Wikipedia]

We cut the lights, broke out the candles, lit some incense (I hit the local hippies store in town, yesterday) and all sat together around the table. I read Psalm 130 (NIV):

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord; O Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. If you, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared.

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning. O Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption. He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins.

[youtube= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCbYrdxNUwU] A friend emailed this to me the other day and it’s spurred some interesting conversation about the nature of ministry.  I’m always amazed how easily we lose sight of journeying with Christ.

There’s nothing wrong with praying a prayer or engaging in any ritual or tradition, but when it becomes something that we lean back on and quit journeying - then we have a problem. Ritual or tradition (communion, meditation, contemplation, etc.)  is meant to remind us of God. It give us a chance to ponder and spend time with Him. When it becomes easier to make them an exercise in goodness or holiness - then they lose all meaning.

In the church or even in my ministry, I see us focused on getting kids (or people) to ‘pray a prayer‘ because it makes us feel good, like we’ve secured them. We also like to take count of conversions as some sort of litmus test of spiritual health/success. If we forget that being a Christian is about a walk, a journey with Christ - then we have nothing more than hollow ritual and tradition. When Jesus called his followers, he simply said, “Come, follow me.” We try and make it so complicated. Being a Christian is quite simple: follow Jesus. It simply starts with an offer to take a walk.

Once every year, students from around the world get up early in the morning to stand around the flag pole of their schools to pray. It’s an amazing symbolic event. It encourages and binds together the Christians. It leaves to revival. I wish.

I’m going to go ahead and say it. I think that See You at the Pole is really STUPID!

I’m sorry, call me the youth ministry cynic, but I’ve never really seen the point of this event. I’m glad students can nominally stand for their faith once a year for ten minutes. It shows nothing. It proves nothing. It just makes us feel warm and fuzzy as Christians. “They can pray and stand for my faith on this day,” some may say. “Do they pray any other day?” I say.

And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men… Matthew 6:5

Did the other students know these youth were a Christian before they stood praying in the morning? If not, then they are not living for Christ and a showy morning of prayer won’t change that. “But God can use this event,” you may say. Yes, but God can use anything. He’s God, that’s why. I could fart and lead someone to Christ. That’s not the point.

We’re teaching our kids to have a shallow and hollow faith. A once a year show means nothing. It takes real courage to live out your faith daily, not on an annual basis. In youth ministry, I’m afraid, we teach our youth that their faith comes in emotional, event size bites, not a step by step journey. I don’t care if they can stand for a morning. I want to see them walk it out for the rest of their lives.

Tell me I wrong…