The Phil Files

It is very late on Friday night and I received a call from the hospital. A father called about his grown daughter (with two kids near the teenage years) who is having emergency surgery as I write this. We prayed over the phone, but I can’t get his concern off of my heart.

I share his concern because I care about him and his daughter, who has battled Crohn’s disease for much of her adult life. We are brothers and sisters in Christ — so when we pray, it is “our” shared concern and so we pray to “our Father” as fathers who care about their kids.

I share his concern because I am a father, too. My kids are always on my heart, but they are especially on my heart right now as they face interesting challenges and great opportunities. So as a father, I pray for our family’s shared concerns and joys by beginning “our Father.”

I pray “our Father” because Jesus emphasized the importance of community and that we are children of God. The Only True and Living God, the Holy and Righteous One, God Almighty, invites us to come and call Him “abba Father” as we pray and the Spirit intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words (Romans 8).

So why not join me tonight, as I pray the Lord’s Prayer, remembering my friend and his daughter, feeling a burden for a close couple friend who wrestle with their grief as they miss their son, loving my own children wanting what is best for them, and knowing that some of you who read this carry burdens that only the Heavenly Father can help you carry.

“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.”

Let’s help each other remember that we are not alone, and by praying “our Father” we remind ourselves of God’s constant and abiding presence (Romans 8:32-39) and our shared family of faith.

“Our Father” please hear our hearts, restore our spirits, and fire our imaginations as we seek to honor You.

For or yours is the kingdom and the power
and the glory forever. Amen.’”

In my Heartllight.org post this week, called “Godly Organic,” I share the “Spirit-natural” principle that we are made to live and grow. It is who and how God made us to be. When we don’t grow, we know that something is wrong. Yet so often, we settle for just treading water spiritually. The power behind this growth, however, can be found in the prayer we offer for each other and the power of God released to empower us toward this growth:

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God … so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,  being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might (Colossians 1:9-11).

So I want to challenge you to ask yourself a few questions about your own personal growth in the Lord and commit yourself to praying for your brothers and sisters in Christ and releasing the power of God into their lives.

How has God continued to fashion you to be more like Jesus?

Can you say that God is re-creating life in you out of the barrenness and scars of your past life?

What is a sign of growth, God’s power, at work in you?

I’d love to hear your response to these questions!

I was busy hurrying around trying to get caught up on my to do list. I was gone this past week to Alaska and have a bunch of things that need doing. Then, everything changed.

Cindy, an old friend from college, called to say her cousin’s husband, my dear friend, Danny Diaz had collapsed while training for an upcoming marathon. So everything else seems much less important. Please pray for Danny and his wife Nancy, and their children Austin, Abby, and David.

Words seem silly, so I ask again, please pray for my friend and those that are precious to you, as well.

Ever since my heart was captured by the Gospel of Luke and the companion volume called Acts, I have been convicted that God had a special heart for the city.

“Which city?” you might ask.

My answer, “Any city, but especially the big cities!”

Jesus’ ministry was focused on the key cities — Capernaum and Jerusalem especially — and the book of Acts revolves around key cities — Jerusalem, Antioch, Ephesus, and Rome.

I recently received a message in my inbox that spoke so powerfully about this focus and something that has been on my heart lately. This message came in a regular email update called The Bronx Prayer Letter. In it, Jared Looney powerfully speaks about a love for the city, especially the people in the city. As I preach on Jesus’ call for us to be an “ALL” focused people today — something I will discuss more with you in my Heartlight.org article tomorrow — I can’t think of a more powerful way to demonstrate the love necessary to do this than Jared’s letter. Be blessed: but even more, be convicted. I have been!

Dear Friends,

Lying in bed last night, I kept thinking about the faces, the names, the situations, and dramas unfolding. It is easy to look at the city, calculate its toughness and spiritual despair, and decide that “it’s not for me.”

Like the rest of us, people in the Bronx are deeply flawed. While part of our society wrestles with the violent sins of neglect, places like the Bronx are flawed in more obvious ways. There is a rawness to life and to relationships, and life is desperate for many. For missionaries from the burbs, it is easy to appreciate the poor when they are new and their stories inspiring, when there is a certain admiration or intrigue,when we are entering an experience that stimulates our sense of adventure. That is, before the glit and glamour of urban messiness becomes actually… messy.

In theological discussions around the country, many are renewing conversations about Incarnational ministry. That is, the Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us as a (or THE) model for ministry. However, I wonder if short term missions has sometimes skewed our view of this practical doctrine. For all the discussions of incarnational ministry, they are only discussions until the glamour rubs off and we’re sharing life with other (and perhaps differently) flawed people. When Jesus repeatedly sat at the table with “sinners and tax collectors” or called fishermen who thought of children as an annoyance, Jesus shared life with them — and at the same time he was life for them. He sought their transformation, and when necesary he released them to their choices. And I’m sure with a sensitivity to sin that shadows even the holiest of consciences, he journeyed with them as their friend.

Early in this journey, the Lord impressed upon me to love the city. I knew what that meant more & more over time. The city is the people, and I love the city.

Jared Looney

Thank you, God, for spring and the crazy weather it brings. I know we complain about lightning, wind, and hail, but this week you’ve sent two snows and a great rain to our parched land. So much of our area was in flames or under fire warning just 10 days ago. Now, our land is wet and refreshed and the fear of fire has gone for now.

Please forgive us for our whining and please receive our praise. I confess for all of us that I don’t know how or why or when you directly intervene in the weather, but I believe you do (James 5:16-18 NLT). Whether you sent the snow and rain this week as a result of your creative work with the seasons or in direct answer to our cries, I thank you.

I ask that now, you also send your spiritual rain on our thirsty hearts and open our eyes to see our deepest need is met in you. And as I begin a new week, please lead me to the people I need to meet and help me say the things that I need to say and to be quiet and listen for You.

In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.

I love you, LORD, my strength.

  The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
    my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
    my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

  I called to the LORD, who is worthy of praise,
    and I have been saved from my enemies.
  The cords of death entangled me;
    the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.
  The cords of the grave coiled around me;
    the snares of death confronted me.

  In my distress I called to the LORD;
    I cried to my God for help.
  From his temple he heard my voice;
    my cry came before him, into his ears.
  The earth trembled and quaked,
    and the foundations of the mountains shook;
    they trembled because he was angry.
  Smoke rose from his nostrils;
    consuming fire came from his mouth,
    burning coals blazed out of it.
  He parted the heavens and came down;
    dark clouds were under his feet.
  He mounted the cherubim and flew;
    he soared on the wings of the wind.
  He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him—
    the dark rain clouds of the sky.
  Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced,
    with hailstones and bolts of lightning.
  The LORD thundered from heaven;
    the voice of the Most High resounded.
  He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy,
    with great bolts of lightning he routed them.
  The valleys of the sea were exposed
    and the foundations of the earth laid bare
  at your rebuke, LORD,
    at the blast of breath from your nostrils.

  He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
    he drew me out of deep waters.
  He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
    from my foes, who were too strong for me.
  They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
    but the LORD was my support.
  He brought me out into a spacious place;
    he rescued me because he delighted in me.

  The LORD has dealt with me according to my righteousness;
    according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.
  For I have kept the ways of the LORD;
    I am not guilty of turning from my God.
  All his laws are before me;
    I have not turned away from his decrees.
  I have been blameless before him
    and have kept myself from sin.
  The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness,
    according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

  To the faithful you show yourself faithful,
    to the blameless you show yourself blameless,
  to the pure you show yourself pure,
    but to the devious you show yourself shrewd.
  You save the humble
    but bring low those whose eyes are haughty.
  You, LORD, keep my lamp burning;
    my God turns my darkness into light.
  With your help I can advance against a troop;
    with my God I can scale a wall.

  As for God, his way is perfect:
    The LORD’s word is flawless;
    he shields all who take refuge in him.
  For who is God besides the LORD?
    And who is the Rock except our God?
  It is God who arms me with strength
    and keeps my way secure.
  He makes my feet like the feet of a deer;
    he causes me to stand on the heights.
  He trains my hands for battle;
    my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
  You make your saving help my shield,
    and your right hand sustains me;
    your help has made me great.
  You provide a broad path for my feet,
    so that my ankles do not give way.

  I pursued my enemies and overtook them;
    I did not turn back till they were destroyed.
  I crushed them so that they could not rise;
    they fell beneath my feet.
  You armed me with strength for battle;
    you humbled my adversaries before me.
  You made my enemies turn their backs in flight,
    and I destroyed my foes.
  They cried for help, but there was no one to save them—
    to the LORD, but he did not answer.
  I beat them as fine as windblown dust;
    I trampled them like mud in the streets.
  You have delivered me from the attacks of the people;
    you have made me the head of nations.
  People I did not know now serve me,
    foreigners cower before me;
    as soon as they hear of me, they obey me.
  They all lose heart;
    they come trembling from their strongholds.

  The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock!
    Exalted be God my Savior!
  He is the God who avenges me,
    who subdues nations under me,
    who saves me from my enemies.
  You exalted me above my foes;
    from violent people you rescued me.
  Therefore I will praise you, LORD, among the nations;
    I will sing the praises of your name.

  He gives his king great victories;
    he shows unfailing love to his anointed,
    to David and to his descendants forever.

\o/ — Comments Psalm 18: The Lord My Strength! — \o/

I cannot speak of this Psalm without strong emotions. My first very real awareness of reading this Psalm as my own came at a time when my family and I had just returned from hiding for three days from someone who had threatened to kill us. It was not an idle threat. As I sat on the couch fearing what I had done to my wife and small children, I fumbled through my Bible seeking reassurance. I “somehow” came to this passage. It was probably the phrase about calling on the Lord and being saved from my enemies that caught my attention. I had sung those words many times; now I needed them to be true for my family and me.I had just heard the weather forecast on TV. No rain in sight. But, as I began to read this Psalm of reassurance, I came to the phrases about wind, lightning, thunder, and hail and … the wind blew, the lightning flashed, the thunder rumbled, and then the hail fell. This lasted only a few minutes.

According to the weather man, it only occured in a six block area. “Just a wrinkle, a minor disturbance in the atmosphere,” the meteorologist said. “I’m sorry, we didn’t see it coming.” Neither did I.

For several years, I shared this with no one but my wife, Donna. I didn’t have a theology to accept this as something for me, but somehow, the holy event changed me, restored me, and enabled me to get off the mat and continue.

Finally, after waiting several years, I was speaking to a class on the fear of the Lord and begin to talk about this experience with them. It was a hot summer afternoon. No rain in the forecast. As I read the Psalm again, there was wind, lightning, thunder, and hail. There was an uncomfortable and reverent laughter.

You may choose to interpret this as you want. All I know is that as my kids grew up and we had to have armed protection at church three different periods of time for my wife, children, and me because of threats made by dangerous people. Yet during these times, I confidently continued, assured the Lord would protect us through these times of danger until my children were grown.

And He has … and they are …

You, LORD, keep my lamp burning;
my God turns my darkness into light.