The Phil Files

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.

More than a decade ago, I was waiting in line at the bank drive through — and yes, Murphy’s law of lines applies to me always: “Whichever line you are in will move most slowly!” — when I heard the dreadful news: the average North American will spend 5-7 years of her or his life waiting in line.

I hate waiting. I really hate it. I’m not good at it. I don’t want to do it. I drive everyone crazy when I have to do it. So you can imagine my eyes stopped at Luke’s description of the Jesus’ command (found in Luke 1, our daily Bible reading today, February 3) to His closest followers before He concluded His time here on good ol’ planet earth:

//Inspiration: Luke 1:4
On one occasion, he [Jesus] gave them [his closest followers] this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.

//Incarnation:
So much had happened in the lives of Jesus and His closest followers. They had failed their faithfulness test: Judas had betrayed his friend Jesus with a kiss for thirty pieces of silver, Peter had cursed and sworn he never knew Jesus, and the other ten of twelve apostles abandoned their Lord and ran away in fear. Hiding in their secure upper room bunker, they had their circuits blown and re-wired by the appearance of Jesus, who showed that He was truly alive and not the figment of their tired, weary, and disbelieving brains. The Lord had restored Peter to leadership and ministry. The Lord had shown Himself alive to hundreds of people. The Lord had opened their minds to understand the promises of the Old Testament made about Him. So why did they need to WAIT?
Two simple reasons. First, Jesus commanded them to wait: the Lord’s command was enough to silence the raging sea of Galilee, cast out demons, and make broken people well. Plus, this time the command came from Jesus risen from the dead. Obedience was enough of a reason to wait. Second, the Lord explains why they needed to wait. They needed to pray and seek God, so that when it was the Father’s timing, Jesus could pour out the Spirit and empower them.
Sometimes, I’m sure more often than I want to admit, I need to hear the Lord’s voice call out to me, “But wait!” The waiting has nothing to do with pleasing people or stalling God’s work of transformation till people are ready. The waiting has nothing to do with trying to keep everybody on the same page. The waiting has nothing to do with everyone needing to be ready for what they are about to do next. Some of those reasons may be judicious, wise, and compassionate. None of them, however, are the reason for the Lord’s words.
“But wait!” was the command issued because the work of the Kingdom, the will of God, the power from above, does not come because of our sense of timing. This empowering by the Spirit must be sought in prayer, most certainly (see Luke 11:13; Acts 4:31). Yet, ultimately, the empowering of the Spirit is God’s work, prayerful waiting is our beckoning of God to work and our willingness to recognize that no God-ordained work of the Kingdom can succeed without God’s power being released to accomplish it.
So in this frantic two week period of time when I’ve got way more to do than I accomplish before heading out to Uganda with Compassion International, I must hear the Lord’s voice say, “But wait!” As busy as I think I need to be to get ready for this trip, I need to be in prayer and seek the release of His power. Without Him, without His blessing and power and without my waiting in prayer, I will only proceed on my own strength … and I’m not strong enough for the opportunities and challenges ahead!

//Invitation:
Come, Lord Jesus, and empower me. I will do my best to wait in your presence and seek the Father’s will. I will be open to Your leading and seek to follow Your guidance. But, dear Lord, I will also wait … and listen … and trust … and anticipate. May all of this be to your honor and glory. Amen.

Mark has been a friend since college. He’s spent time in “full time” ministry on staff with churches. Now, he works as a builder, but still does full time ministry with his wife influencing young couples to follow Jesus.

He had called simply to share an affirmation about someone who has a low wage job that serves people, but which is not very respected by most folks. He was bragging on Roy and how amazing he thought it was that Roy could serve in this position for 23 years and still have such a good attitude toward people, many who treat him poorly, or at best, as invisible. Mark was praising Roy for his staying power and faithfulness.

As a minister, I don’t get a lot of calls bragging on someone for doing good things. It’s the unfortunate sign of our times that we focus so much energy on finding negative things and then repeating them to others. We seem to find those negative things more easily and hang on to them more tenaciously. But not Mark. I was thankful to have this good dose of blessing and encouragement in the middle of a busy day.

Then Mark went one step further: he asked to be the first person who prayed with me for my trip “right now” before I left for Uganda with Compassion International. Mark has been a youth minister and a young single adult minister: he knows how important it is for kids to come to know Jesus before they hit their twenties. The words of his intercession washed over me like a shower of grace. What a blessing.

I would love it if you would be in prayer about this upcoming trip as we try to find monthly sponsors for at least 500 children. For just a little more than a dollar a day, you can join in me supporting a child (we actually support two) and help them with the basic necessities of life and do this in the name of Jesus.

I covet your prayers, so if you would be willing to be a part of the prayer team for me while I’m on this trip, please follow this link and leave a response to the information there. Also, you want to read my companion article to this post on Heartlight, called “My Deliverer” from the Rich Mullins’ song. What are some other ways to help us be a deliverer for children in need so they can ultimately find the great Deliverer. Let me hear from you in the response are below!

Thank you and God bless you as you seek to serve the Lord!