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Have you ever longed to experience more
of God’s power in your life? Do you wish you
felt closer to him?
So often, we keep God at a distance—we know
a lot about him, and about the Bible,
but we don’t know him. He remains an
idea, a concept to believe in, rather than
an intimate friend and guide.
So we try to get closer, but we’re not
sure how. We step up our study about him, or
the amount of time we pray. Prayer and study
are great, but are we listening? And beyond
listening, are we obeying when he challenges
us to put our faith into practice? The
secret to experiencing God’s power and
presence in your life is to take a
God-directed risk when he asks you. To say
yes.
Henry Blackaby famously noted that prayer
is “noticing where God is at work and then
joining him in that work.” Prayer is not
just talking at God, it’s walking with God.
It’s responding to his calling. The most
life-altering prayer you can pray is “Yes.”
But how do we do this in the midst of our
daily routine?
Summer is fading away, a new season is
beginning. The children are back in school,
and my role is relegated to driving evening
carpools and writing checks for various
miscellany needed for their “free” public
education—gym uniforms, hot lunches, and
today, a Spanish workbook.
So I get up with my teenagers, who do not
need me to get up with them, as they make
their own breakfasts and lunches, brush
their own teeth and get themselves out the
door (although they do seem to need me to
write those checks).
The return to routine helps me to get
things done—including a book manuscript
which I finished this week. Whoo hoo!
This book will not be out until about a
year from now—it’s a devotional called
Simple Compassion: Making a Difference in
Your Neighborhood and Your World.
Writing it has been an interesting process.
Writing a non-fiction book is like doing a
term paper. You research, you study, you
write—you learn as you go along. As I was
finishing the manuscript, God created an
opportunity for me to put what I was
learning and writing into practice.
How? In the midst of this busy season, he
gave me another teenager to care for. If you
read my
blog, you
know about a young man named Lawrice.
I wrote about Lawrice in my book
Listen: Finding God in the Story of Your
Life. I learned his story from a
Chicago Tribune article back in 2005, which
told about his struggles growing up in one
of Chicago’s poorest neighborhoods, and his
strong faith, and how he had listened to God
and was overcoming enormous odds.
Click here
to read his amazing and inspiring story.
As most of you know, God asked me,
politely but insistently, to help this young
man. You can read more about it on my
blog. At
first, I said no. But God wore me down and
told me to step out in faith and raise some
funds.
More than a dozen people so far have made
contributions—ranging from $10 to $350—to
the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in
Lawrice’s name, so that he can pursue his
dream of getting a college education. We’ve
raised over $1300 so far, plus got him a
very reasonable plane ticket so he could get
to L.A.
I know some of you think I am nuts for
helping a young man I don’t really even
know. My husband, while very supportive,
says this is the craziest thing I have ever
done.
But I can tell you this: there is very
little downside to this, as far as I can
tell. Well, alright, the other morning when
I wasn’t sure if he would make it to the
airport in time for his 6 a.m. flight was a
little nerve-wracking.
Still, I wish each of you could
experience what I have these last few weeks.
The nearness of God, the exhilaration of
being on this adventure. I get to watch God
make a way where really, there was no way.
It has revived my faith in amazing ways. I
feel like I know God not just in my head, or
even in my heart, but in my hands and feet.
John Ortberg writes: “Is there any
challenge in your life right now that is
large enough that you have no hope of doing
it apart from God’s help? If not, consider
the possibility that you are seriously
underchallenged. If you want to walk on the
water, you have to be willing to get your
feet wet first. Then you discover it is
worth the risk.” (If You Want to Walk on
Water, You’ve Got to Get Out of the Boat)
Getting to know Lawrice and his
grandmother Delores has been an adventure.
This is a challenge I have no hope of doing
apart from God’s help.
I’ve only said I will try to raise money,
not that I will provide all of it. But even
if I can’t raise the money, I won’t back out
of the relationship. I am willing to let God
use me to help this kid and his family. To
encourage them, to offer advice, to tell
Lawrice I am proud of him. These too are
things I could not do without God’s help.
But I believe it will be worth the risk.
Lawrice wrote me an e-mail telling me I
was his angel, but in a way, I think he is
mine. Helping him, seeing a community of
diverse friends come together to do what
none of us could do alone—that just fans the
flames of my faith. I have felt the presence
of God in a palpable way these last few
weeks. If your faith is dry or seems
routine, here is the path to revival: to
honor God. How?
The Bible says, “whoever is kind to the
needy honors God” (Proverbs 14:31). Our
obedient action (based not on trying to
impress God, but listening to his direction)
revives our faith.
Lawrice is now, thanks to all of our
contributors, at school in Los Angeles. Like
any freshman, he’s trying to adjust to
living in a dorm with a lot of other guys,
finding his way around campus. He’s a little
overwhelmed, and would appreciate your
prayers.
He is going on faith, because there are
still supplies that he needs to get.
Contributions have covered his first month’s
tuition and books, as well as some money for
meals. We’re well on our way to gathering
enough to pay his second month. But he still
needs, believe it or not, ballet shoes, for
a class he’s taking (ballet is part of his
curriculum).
He’s looking for a job. But he could use
our prayers, and if God leads you, a bit of
financial support.
I’d love it if any of you in the Los
Angeles area would be willing to help him.
He’ll need a few things for his dorm room—if
you have used items in excellent condition
and would be willing to donate them, let me
know by
emailing me.
Book Reviews
Everything Must Change:
Jesus, Global Crises, and a Revolution of
Hope
by Brian McLaren
Thomas Nelson Books
Retail: $21.99
Our Price:
$17.59
Like McLaren’s other books, this is a
meandering treatise in which he attempts to
answer the question, “How do the life and
teachings of Jesus address the most critical
global problems in our world today?” He
attempts to remind readers of the
historical, political context of Jesus’ life
and teachings, and their relevance today.
McLaren asserts that when Jesus spoke
about the “kingdom of God,” he was not
talking about a future heavenly place, but
that he literally meant what he said when he
claimed that “the kingdom of God is at
hand.” The kingdom is not where we’re going
to end up after we die, it’s meant to be
where we live right now.
He writes, “The Bible’s purpose, we
assume, is to explain how to go to heaven,
to legitimize certain religious
institutions, to define in detail universal
timeless truths, to provide a detailed
timeline for the end of the world, and so
on. … what might we discover if we become
willing to question that assumption? Then we
could test an alternative hypothesis: that
the Bible instead is the story of the
partnership of God and humanity to save and
transform all of human society and avert
global self-destruction.”
The books spins out that “alternative
hypothesis” in detail, touching on subjects
ranging from environmentalism to social
justice, politics to poverty. While I don’t
agree with everything McLaren writes, I
found this book very helpful in thinking
about the ministry of Jesus, and our social
responsibilities as his followers.
McLaren takes a lot of criticism from
more conservative Christians, but I think
it’s worth it to read his ideas and decide
for yourself whether you agree with them or
not.
Quotable Quote
“If I am going to experience a greater
measure of God’s power in my life, it will
usually involve the first-step principle. It
will usually begin by my acting in
faith—trusting God enough to take a step of
obedience. Simply acknowledging information
about his power is not enough. I have to get
my feet wet. Often at the key moments of
saying yes, I don’t know all the
implications. … It is a good thing we don’t
know, or we might never take that first
step. But when I say yes, I set in motion an
adventure that will leave me forever
changed.” (John Ortberg, If You Want to
Walk on Water, You’ve Got to Get Out of the
Boat)
Deeper Connection
Consider John Ortberg’s question: Is
there any challenge in your life right now
that is large enough that you have no hope
of doing it apart from God’s help?
Connecting with Keri: Speaking
Keri will lead a retreat for the Women’s
Christian Conference of Northwest
Pennsylvania Sept. 12-13 in Saegertown, PA.
She will be in the Los Angeles area for
the following engagements:
- Thurs., Oct. 16: 9:30 a.m. at The
Shoreline Church in San Clemente, CA
- Fri., Oct. 17: 9 a.m. at Yorba Linda
Friends Church MOPS group, Yorba Linda, CA
- Oct. 17-19: Lead retreat for Voyagers
Church in Irvine, CA
Keri will speak at the Women’s Ecumenical
Fall Retreat in Blair, NE October 25.
Keri is currently accepting speaking
engagements for December 2008 and beyond.
You can see her full speaking schedule at
www.keriwyattkent.com
Connecting with Keri: Web
Check out Keri’s
blog, Deep
Breathing for the Soul, at
www.keriwyattkent.com/soul/
You can read Keri’s latest musings on the
connection between faith and real life, you
can post a question about any of her books
or other writings.
If you are a parent or work with kids,
and feel like you are always pouring out,
click over to Keri’s “For Your Soul” column
http://www.christianitytoday.com/childrensministry/articles/
and get filled up. This column, written
for those who minister to children, will
give you encouragement and practical help
with nurturing your own soul.
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