Often we long to be close to God but often many distractions get in our way to encountering him in the way we desire.
This week I incorporated a spiritual practice of ascending degrees of silence in a retreat. One version is at this link. At its conclusion I had a deep attentiveness to God’s presence with me and a longing for more time with him in this way.
For each of the twelve steps you ‘shut off’ the element that is raised and dwell there for 5-10 minutes. In that time you reflect on what the purpose or meaning is of that step (in the version linked above some thoughts about each one are shared).
Continue with each step adding to the previous, like the ascending of stairs. As you end the time your hope is to be present, silent, and attentive to God. It is hard work but opens us to hearing from God. What could a practice like this do for you?
“I always thought I needed to read the whole Bible and understand the meaning of each Biblical passage before I started to share the Gospel. However, I realized that is not true. I can start inviting my friends to join International Friends and tell them who Jesus is and what Christianity is about.”Mikayla, an UMSL graduate student from Taiwan, is one of many international students who is venturing into the next phase of life with new skills in sharing their faith. At Urbana 15, Mikayla felt challenged to try and start a GIG (Group Investigating God) with non-Christian friends on campus and learned a lot from the process. When asked about her favorite memory from her time in the International Friends community, she mentioned the Thursday night Family Dinner and Discussions. She loved connecting with friends from all over the world, sharing in each others’ cultures and traditional food, and discussing the life of Jesus and the Bible after each meal. Her time in International Friends will now help her build up believers in Texas where she heads for a new job and wherever life takes her.
Over the last couple of months when I’ve deadheaded the flowers on my deck I’ve just pulled out the flowers. Recently I learned to deadhead I need to pinch the stem below the flower to remove the chance for it to go to seed.
So for the last few weeks I’ve been at work making up for incomplete pruning of my plants. This has given me time to think about the incomplete work (due to misunderstanding or haste) I’ve done in my own life to prepare for future fruitfulness. As I work pinching off flowers I’ve asked God to prune that which is needed for my future growth as well.
Over the last several weeks I have unplugged things around my house signifying the unplugging that is happening in the first part of my sabbatical.
After unplugging my email and work platforms from my phone I continued to pick up my phone to check on what I had waiting for me. Surprise, there was nothing. Then I looked for non-work things to fill the void I felt from unplugging. As I continued in this pattern it struck me how programmed I’ve become to the work rhythms and engagement over these last nine years.
In order to experience what God has for me in this time I continue to find new things to unplug and refrain from plugging in something else to fill the void. Can you pray with me towards this end?
Nearly fifty international students from schools around the region trekked to Lake of the Ozarks to learn about Jesus, May 13-17. Caitlyn, a Meramec Community College student, co-led a small group at the International Getaway each morning. This was her first time leading an international group in studying Scripture. She shared she’s always loved learning about new cultures, but at the Getaway she realized God can actually use that passion to empower her to share about Jesus cross-culturally with others.
Eight years ago we set a very lofty vision that by 2020 we would see:
Missional communities planted in our Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the Ends of the Earth: 500 cells, 50 chapter, and 1 oversees student movement.
While we crossed the 50 chapter mark this past December, it was not until we counted up the cells (small groups) in May that we realized we crossed 500, in fact just over 520 cells met in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska this year.
We are amazed at the work of God in our midst and feel like the farmer Jesus describes in the Parable of the Growing Seed in Mark 4:26-29. The Kingdom of God is on the move in the Midwest and we are grateful to partner with God in his work.
The overseas student movement in Cambodia, Sonoko, is on its way as well. Pray with us for the important next steps on indigenous leadership for this IFES movement.
Jim was always too scared to invite his non-believing friends to study the Bible with him. In his last semester this February, he came to a campus evangelism training. Within 2 weeks of the training, he took the risk and actually started a Bible study with his non-believing friend, later telling his staff that it wasn’t as hard as he thought it would be. After more than three years of inviting him to try, Jim finally said yes!
As I thought of the impact of my sabbatical on my family, I had an image of laying mulch around a bush.
Mulch provides temperance, nourishment, and covering that helps root development and overall growth of the bush. My prayer is that the impact of my sabbatical would be the same for my family. Would you join me in this prayer?
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