Day 11—12 Guys Striving

Twelve ex-cons listened as I explained how to beat temptation and resist evil. I began by telling them who I was, including a number of natural disasters and life-crises that I have lived through. I told them that I hoped that I could earn their trust by the end of our time together. I didn’t want to presume anything. I shared what I knew and what has worked for me in resisting evil. I shared what the Bible says about resisting evil and how to overcome temptation. This was a subject they were very familiar with. Some had seen more victories than defeats. Others more defeats. But they all wanted more victories. Many shared their own tricks of the trade and secrets in defeating the enemy. The younger guys took notes. It was a good night. I was blessed. My prayer is that they were too.

Day 10—Coffee at 6 a.m.

I get energized when I get up early and head out into the day. Especially in the fall when it’s duck hunting season. Or like today… when a cup of Caribou dark roast beckons me with a good friend for conversation.

Today’s surprises: the privilege of listening to a friend’s tough turn of events, and bringing the presence of Jesus into it. I’m reminded again that in spite of how people appear on the outside, it’s no indication of how they’re doing on the inside. It’s always an honor when people let you into their lives, especially when you have something of great value to offer them that can redeem it.

Day 9—Church

I’m in awe. I don’t know how else to describe it. Every two weeks I walk away from our Tuesday night House Church meeting amazed at what God is doing in our midst. In an ordinary house. In an ordinary neighborhood.

Grandmas and emergents laugh together, appreciative of what the other brings to the group. The limping and healthy offer lavish compassion and prayer for one another. Smiles emerge from faces that have seen long days. Small talk provides a sweet appetizer. Tears flow freely, sensing hope within this body of Christ. Plenty of food somehow finds its way onto the table, but always shy of an over-abundance. Worship is led using a karaoke machine (I know, I know… but you have to experience it to believe it!). Scratchy voices mix with baritone voices, sweet voices, and off-key voices, all rising together in an amazing cacophony of sound that is pleasing to God, even if not to a trained audiophile. Scripture, teaching and discussion play together with the spontaneity of children who come to the park on a summer day ready to play but not knowing what the game will be until they get there. And—you might have guessed it—through it all God richly pours out His Spirit upon this gathering that comes to worship Him in the name of Jesus.

This is church. It’s not “going to church” so much as it is “being the church.”

Day 8—Deep Feeding

Today’s Surprises: This morning in my quiet time I prayed for the Lord to pour out His life-giving Word into the deep recesses of my soul. I needed His life to feed mine. I am grateful for how the Lord sustains me. Over dinner I became aware of how the presence of the Lord had quietly crept over me all during the afternoon while I did my work. A quiet and welcomed surprise.

Day 7—Grass in my toes

Our mini small group met tonight and discussed our first week of “Surprise Me, God.” No earth-shattering revelations were given to any of us. At least that we were aware of. And that’s really the crux of it, isn’t it? Being aware. Being aware of what God is doing. Being aware of how God may be moving in our lives. Being aware of how God may be moving behind the scenes where it’s difficult to see Him. Being aware of how God may be involved in our relationships and interactions with other people. Being SURPRISED.

One question from Terry Esau's book, Surprise Me, that we’re wrestling with: “Do you ever wish you knew for certain which of your thoughts/ideas came from God? How would it be easier/harder if you had this information?” We all agreed that we yearned to know with more certainty which ideas and thoughts came from God. We could move ahead much more productively in our lives without all the discerning, and reflecting, and decision-making, and failing, and the starting over again. (This may not necessarily be a value of God’s, however. God may be perfectly comfortable with lots of discernment, discussion and decision-making. The Bible seems to hint in this direction, anyway.)

My “surprises” today? The beauty of neighbors flooding out-doors, strolling casually down the streets! I enjoyed several serendipitous conversations throughout the day. Met lots of neighbors. So did Toast, my 14 week-old Golden. It was fantastic. (Hey—for all you non-Minnesotans who are poking fun at us for such a silly thing… just remember—it’s been six months since we’ve felt grass between our toes!) Thank you, God.

Day 6--Courage

One more day and we're already a quarter of the way through this 30-day faith experiement! It's going so quickly. For those of you who are following along... What has God been saying to you? Has God surprised you along the way this week? (Feel free to send a comment.)

Yesterday I had the privilege of meeting a friend from my House Church over coffee. I listened to his story of how God has interacted with him over the course of his life. It was a privilege. And an honor. It always is whenever someone trusts you enough to tell you how their life has interacted with Divine Life. After all, who can really say if it's real? How can you "prove" it? How do you know if it was "God" who said or did or led you in certain ways... and not just your own "inner voice?" Talking about the Divine is a risk in itself, isn't it? You have to have the courage and self-confidence to lay out your story, and your interpretation of the story, before the world with the fear of proven wrong, of scoffed at, or simply discounted. And who wants to sign up for that?

No wonder we're gun-shy to talk about matters of faith.

My friend did anyway. And as I listened, I saw glimpses of God's handiwork all over the place. What a privilege. Thanks for the nice surprise. Lord.

Day 5—Dr. Moritz

Today was the 2nd and last day of the mini-class on the “Theology of House Churches,” with some surprising new insights from the life of Jesus. Thorsten Moritz (New Testament prof from Bethel) taught the course. One of his main themes was that following Jesus has more to do with BEING the church than GOING to church. Jesus spent most of his time living out what he taught rather than teaching it--in a formal way, at least. The 12 disciples who followed Jesus did the same and lived this lifestyle as well. So being a Christian has to do with who you are at any given moment of the day and how you’re living the New Life that you’ve been given by God through Jesus. But too often we’ve reduced the Christian faith to whether we “go” to church on a given Sunday, and if so, "where," rather than focus on living it out 24/7.

So here’s a question I’m thinking about… what holds more potential for life-transformation: going to church on Sunday each week for about an hour or so, or adopting a new lifestyle (following Jesus) that operates 24/7 in your life? (By the way, I’m not suggesting that they’re mutually exclusive, since both are important. Just—which holds the greatest potential for life transformation?)

Day 4— Confusion in Convention

Nothing earth-shattering today. Just a drive with a friend to audit a seminary class on the Theology of House Churches. Maybe more than I bargained for, though. After my pre-reading and seat-time I learned that there’s much more behind a simple House Church than a simple house church. Like many conventional church-starts, there’s a high number that take a nose-dive within the first year. Mostly because folks are just trying to reproduce what they’re familiar with, i.e., taking a conventional church model and just fitting it into a smaller setting, say—the living room of a house. Which is like trying to use plumbing pipes to circulate the antifreeze solution throughout your car engine. No matter how hard you try, it's not going to work. They're not made to work together.

So I’m closing out the day with more questions than answers. Questions like… What has prompted 9% of adults in the U.S. (according to The Barna Group) to now attend a House Church in the U.S. during a typical week rather than a conventional church? What prompted Pastor Bill Hybels to say last fall that much of what Willow Creek Community Church has been doing the last decade or so hasn’t really been effective in producing disciples of Jesus? Why are so many Christians leaving the conventional church, not because they’re losing their faith, but because they want to “preserve their faith,” according to Reggie McNeal (The Present Future)?

It’s a confusing time. Which means, it’s probably an opportune time as well. God seems to be able to get our attention more effectively when things aren’t so clear cut. So... “Surprise Me, God….”

Day 3—Distractionally-challenged

I realized today that “life” is already crowding out my 30-day experiment in faith. And it’s only been 3 DAYS! How distractionally-challenged we are as human beings! At least—it’s true of me, maybe less true for others. Okay, I need to stay focused and attentive.... As I reflect back on today, I can see God continuing to lead me toward the next “thing.” It's still very fuzzy though. A meeting that I had with a new friend led me to several new leads and contacts that I would have not considered, as I flesh out my future.

Day 2--Something stirs

The whole time that I was driving to pick up my friend John I wondered what it was that he wanted to show me. “Can you drive?” he asked when I waked into the cafe. “Sure I could drive. But where are we going?” I asked. “You’ll see.”

We headed west toward downtown, down Washington Avenue to Hennepin, turned right and headed across the bridge. Then, right again and parked. “We’re here,” he said. I looked around—“very nice” I thought.

As we walked inside John began to tell me about the building, how he used to office here with his computer company. Lots of shops and restaurants. Everything was light and airy, as we made our way around corners, into hallways that opened into mini-retreat areas and fresh gardens. Lots of open space. Very inviting, with the smell of food wafting through the spaces. But the store-front spaces were less occupied than the developers anticipated, I think. We rounded another corner and stepped out into a grand indoor park area and were greeted by a waterfall, bushes, and some tables with a few people eating and talking. To my right was a glass-enclosed meeting area. John pointed to it and said, “I thought that would be a great space to worship in.”

Yeah, I guess! Very cool. It was brilliant. And beautiful. I wanted to linger, but he needed to get back. And that was it. A mini-surprise of sorts. The image of the glass-enclosed meeting space captured my imagination and set me thinking….

John gets leadings and images, visions and words from God, that are mostly intended for other people, for the building up of the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:7). This one was intended for me. It’s a gift. At least, that’s the way I received it anyway. I’m pondering it in my heart, like Mary. We’ll see what unfolds….

Day 1--A Magic Wand?

No big surprises to pass on to you from DAY 1 of my 30-Day Experiment. It was a quiet day. I made phone calls. Took the puppy on a walk. Did research. Went to the gym. I was looking—. I was waiting—. But—nothing. Nothing dramatic, anyway. But here’s what I was reminded of with subtle clarity.

Prayer is not a magic wand. Just because I pray “Surprise Me, God,” doesn’t mean that God is at my beckoning command. It doesn’t mean that God is ready to grant my earnest wish or the desire of my heart now that all the pressure's ON HIM. (yeah, right.) It doesn’t mean that God will finally “surprise me” by answering the prayer requests that I’ve been bringing before Him for these many months.

No, nothing changes on God’s part just because I start praying, “Surprise Me, God.” The Bible teaches me that God is constant, never-changing. God is always loving. Forever faithful. Infinitely merciful. God doesn’t START becoming more of these just because I start praying a new prayer. What changes when I start praying “Surprise Me, God”… is me. Or at least… I have the potential to change. God is always working in my life. Whether I see it or not depends on my openness to God’s leading. To God’s movement. To God’s voice—the spiritual “hungriness” of my heart, if you will.

Okay, now that I’m straight on that—again—there’s just one thing left to do today: to pray, once again, “Surprise Me, God.”

"Surprise Me, God"

30 Days. A Three-word prayer. A trail of surprises. Who knows what will happen?

Beginning Monday, April 14 a few neighborhood friends will join Merlajean and me for a 30 day faith experiment. For the next 30 days each of us will begin our day with the simple three-word prayer, “Surprise me, God.” Then we’ll keep a short journal of what happens each day. Or doesn’t happen. It's as simple as that. No laundry lists of requests. No specific agenda. Just a simple invitation each day for God to barge into our lives any old way He pleases.

You’re welcome to come along too and join us for the next 30 days, via this blog. Each day I’ll be posting a blog entry. You can write in and respond any day using the “comments” button. Feel free to join in. Who knows… you may offer just the encouraging word that someone else needs to hear.

If you’d like more information about the “Surprise Me, God” experiment, go to author Terry Esau’s website http://www.surprisemegod.com/. Terry is the author of the book, Surprise Me, God, an account of his first 30-day “surprise me, God” experiment. Terry also offers a 30-day journal with daily reflection questions and five study sessions for a shared weekly small group experience.

Let the journey begin...

Jump at Panera

It went incredibly smooth. Like it had been planned all along. Or staged for a You Tube video.

I drove into the parking lot of Panera hoping I’d find an open spot near the door. (It was a cold day in the middle of winter—which in Minnesota, extends into May these days.) As I inched down the row toward the Handicapped stalls my heart leaped. I spotted an empty place and raced to pull in! But as I pulled in, a strange site jumped into my view.

The hood was up on the car right across the space from me. An old man in a hat got out of the car and began to motion for me to pull in further. Strange—it was just like the guy at the airport who waves the orange flashlights at the pilots of the jumbo jets to guide them in closer to the exact spot to meet the gangway. “Who is this guy?” I wondered. “Am I being set up? How long has he been waiting for someone to come by? Was he waiting for someone else and I just happened to pull in first?” All kinds of weird thoughts crossed my mind in the fraction of a second that I stared at him. The old man kept motioning at me to keep pulling in… further. Further. A little more. Whoaa! That was good. Right there. I jumped out.

“Need a jump?” I asked, stating the obvious. “Yeah!”… as he started to tell me the story of his car going dead. But all the while he talked he also made quick work of grabbing his jumper cables, placing them on his battery, and asking which side my battery was on. It was so smooth that I wondered if this had happened to him often. He seemed harmless enough—just focused. And efficient. Matter of fact. Like we’d been friends forever.

I was happy to help, actually. It wasn’t an inconvenience at all. He needed help. I was in the perfect—the only—spot to help him. Before I even had a chance to start thinking about the inconvenience it might be… he had started his car. He jumped back out. Had the jumper cables off his battery and mine and put away before you knew it. He thanked me profusely. “No problem… happy to help” I heard myself saying. He jumped back in his car and pulled out. I looked around. Got back in my truck and turned off the engine and walked inside Panera for my lunch-time meeting.

Like I said, It went incredibly smooth. Like it had been planned all along. Or staged for a You Tube video. I felt like I had been a part of something much bigger than merely jumping a car a moment earlier, but didn’t have the full script. Just my part. I thanked God that I could help the old man so quickly and easily. And—I didn’t even THINK about it as an inconvenience. A modest victory for me as well.

Pretty cool, huh? I think that’s how life oughta work more often. Helping each other out whenever and however. Not just friends or family or even neighbors. But strangers too. After all, we’re all brothers and sisters of the same family when you get right down to it. And isn’t that how families act?