Words from WW Blog

WORDS FROM W.W. September 25, 2009
“UNCOMFORTABLE E-MAILS”

Dear Frank,
Since your prayer conversations with me are getting fewer and far-between, I decided to e-mail you. I know you’re pretty absorbed with internet chatter. I’m feeling a little distance from you. Is itr something I said?
Sincerely, God
Dear God,
I’m assuming that sending this to TheMostHigh@God.com will reach you. Unless you have pop-up protection…since my e-mail is “popping up”. Get it…pop up…you know… heaven?”
You’re right! (Of course, you’re always right!) I’ve been a little…spotty lately. Sorry about that!
Sincerely, Frank
Dear Frank,
Was that repentance in your last e-mail? Kind of lame! Lately “spotty” would be an improvement for you. I would call it, because I know, non-existent! My “angels of calculation department” is having a hard time keeping up with the number of hours your fingers are on a game control for “Madden NFL 10”. You seem to have mastered the “wildcat offense”, but what about a prayerful defense.
Sincerely, God
Dear God,
I admit that I use my Xbox to escape from the situations of life. At the end of the day I’m just so tired of dealing with reality that pretending I’m Chad Pennington for a while is a release.
Sincerely, Frank
Dear Frank,
What if you started your day with me? Did you ever consider the possibility that I could give you strength at the beginning? It seems like my word says a few things about that. Don’t let the dust get up your nose as you open your bible.
Sincerely, God
Dear God,
That last comment was a little cynical. I’ve never really thought of you as having cynicism.
Sincerely, Frank
Dear Frank,
Forty years in the desert will do that to you! Even me! But my cynicism does not cloud my vision, my love, and my faith in you. Even when you’re distant from me it does not change my belief in your potential to be a change agent for my kingdom. It took forty years for my people, but I knew they would reach my destination and realize my promises for them. Forty years, four year, four months, four hours, four minutes…the time is not the important element. What’s important is that any amount of time that you disregard my existence, ignore my presence, or dismiss my worth is offensive!
And yet, I’m gracious and forgiving!
Sincerely, God
Dear God,
I guess I hadn’t really thought of it that way. I admit that I’ve been consumed with my own agenda way too much. In some ways it makes it easier.
Sincerely, Frank
Dear Frank,
…And more frustrating! Following your own agenda let’s you control the schedule, control what you decide is the most important, and allow you to set the terms and conditions…and it saps your energy!
Sincerely, God
Dear God,
You can be so brutally honest! Isn’t there something more pressing on your schedule today than me? I mean, the President surely needs direction on more important issues than me!
Sincerely, Frank
Dear Frank,
Don’t minimize yourself. You’ve been minimizing me for too long. Don’t just shift the reducing factor to yourself. How I’m working in other people’s lives is my decision. What is that to you?
Sincerely, God
Dear God,
My bad once again! I suppose you want me to make some changes right away. I mean, I assume you’re not giving me a three day furlough before I get serious on this, are you?
Sincerely, Frank
Dear Frank,
Time’s a wastin’! And you’ve wasted enough time already. Get with it. The work of the kingdom is too crucial. I need you to be seeing people around you and their needs. I won’t give it away, but there may be someone that you encounter even this morning that needs a life-changing word from you.
Sincerely, God
Dear God,
Okay, okay, okay! Tomorrow would just be a little more convenient than right now today!
Sincerely, Frank
Dear Frank,
If you want convenience, stop by 7-11 on your drive in this morning. I’m not big on convenience! If you’ve read my word you’ll remember that there were too many situations where it was more convenient to replace me with some other god or idol than to be obedient to my will.
So Frank, get going! It’s Sunday morning, and you are still the pastor!
Sincerely, God

WORDS FROM W.W. September 16, 2009
“PASTORAL CORRESPONDENCE”
Dear Fred,
I’ve missed having you in worship the last few weeks. Is everything okay? I know there’s a lot of sickness going around right now. Sincerely, Pastor Jones
Pastor Jones,
No sickness, but Sundays have been busy for us lately. Sincerely, Fred
Dear Fred,
Have you all had a lot of relatives visiting from out-of-town; or been traveling to see your mom and dad in Wyoming? Sincerely, Pastor Jones
Pastor Jones,
No, it’s our own schedule difficulties. The wife and I have gotten involved in a square dancing group that meets on Saturday nights, and usually afterwards most of us head to a restaurant for a late-night meal. Most Sunday mornings we’re so exhausted that we just lay in bed. Sincerely Fred
Dear Fred,
That’s great that you’re getting a lot of exercise. I just wish you’d join us for some spiritual exercising on Sunday morning in church. Sincerely, Pastor Jones
Pastor Jones,
We’ll try to get there in the next couple of weeks. When you did our pre-marriage counseling 25 years ago you mentioned the need to keep dating your wife, so I’m following your advice every Saturday night. Sincerely, Fred
Dear Fred,
You’re a good man, Fred…with a good memory! I think I also counseled the two of you to keep growing spiritually in your marriage relationship. Sincerely, Pastor Jones
Pastor Jones,
I vaguely remember something about that. That’s why the wife and I lay in bed a lot of Sunday mornings. You know…it being a day of rest and all. Sincerely, Fred
Dear Fred,
I think maybe you’re mi-interpreting that scriptural principle. The Sabbath day of rest was focused on putting work to the side and worshipping the glory of God. Sincerely, Pastor Jones
Pastor Jones,
You know the bible better than me, so…the truth is that we’re just lazy. Sincerely, Fred
Dear Fred,
Would you like a wake-up call this Sunday? Sincerely, Pastor Jones
Pastor Jones,
Actually, this Sunday we’re getting up early and heading up to the Fruit Festival in the northern part of the state. The wife has to have her yearly visit there, and be able to buy some apple butter. It’s the best. We’re pulling out at 6AM sharp! Sincerely, Fred
Dear Fred,
Won’t you be exhausted from Saturday night? Sincerely, Pastor Jones
Pastor Jones,
Yes, we’ll be tired, but it’s worth it. They have some great entertainers performing, admission isn’t that expensive, and we try to get there early to beat the crowds. Sincerely, Fred
Dear Fred,
Excuse the analogies, but each Sunday we give God a performance of worship that we hope he delights in, our admission is free, and you don’t even have to get here early to beat the crowd. Sincerely, Pastor Jones
Pastor Jones,
You’ve got a good sense of humor. You should use that in a sermon sometime. Maybe we’ll see you the next week. I think the wife has nursery duty then anyway. Sincerely, Fred
Fred,
Well, at least I’ll see you that Sunday. Sincerely, Pastor Jones
Pastor Jones,
Oh, I just remembered! We’re in a bowl-a-thon for swine flu awareness next Sunday. Hey, could you find someone to replace the wife in the nursery for us. Sincerely, Fred
Dear Fred,
Well, whenever you get around to worshipping with us again I just hope we’re still here. Sincerely, Pastor Jones
Pastor Jones,
Thanks for the interest. I’ll talk more to the wife and we’ll see if we can make it sometime before Christmas. By the way, could we borrow a few tables from the church? We’re having a garage sale a couple of weeks from now on Sunday, October 4. Thanks for your help. Sincerely, Fred.

WORDS FROM W.W. September 7, 2009
“Precarious”
I took Latin in college and failed it (“failius maximus”), so when a Latin word is mentioned in one of my writings you can be assured that it was written in a book that I’m reading and the meaning is thoroughly explained with the word. Otherwise if I’m speaking Latin I’m simply making words up, at the end of which I say something like “maximus” or “prius” to make it sound authentic.
Thus, it was in a book recently where I read that the Latin root of our word prayer is “precaria”. The word “precarious” is derived from it.
Prayer places us in a precarious situation. As Tilden Edwards writes in Living In The Presence, “In heart prayer we are vulnerable, and our trust that God is good is vital if we are to abide there.”
Precarious. Precarious and prayer, one and the same.
Some other adjectives for precarious include “skaky” and “risky”. We might not think of those words very often when we think of prayer. We talk about the power of prayer and the need for prayer, but I haven’t heard “the risk of prayer” or “the shakiness of prayer” mentioned very often.
Edwards would say it is risky because true prayer demands the yielding of our hearts to the presence of God. “The heart is a dangerous place to our minds, because there we are dependent upon something- Someone- beyond our control and mental grasp. (p. 12)”
We are extremely “mental” people. “Heart” is associated more with heart disease and attacks than it is with matters of contemplation. All you need to do is compare the number of people at a church’s “chili cook-off” compared to a prayer gathering. Donuts are the preamble to singing the Doxology.
Our minds can keep things reasonable and mostly understandable. I can allow something to occupy my mind as much or as little as I want. There’s a lack of precariousness to it.
“Heart prayer”, however, takes our hands off the steering wheel. We have to trust that the alignment is right on course and will not take us into a dead-end ditch or result in a collision with an approaching possible barrier. It’s shaky and often leaves us shaking.
Paul writes in Ephesians 3:17 “I pray that Christ will dwell in your hearts through faith.” Precarious prayer is dialogue, listening, and then believing in what our Resident is saying to us.
That is tough! I tend to creep into the zip code of precariousness…and then rush back to the safety of my own senses. I focus on solutions and lean on my own understanding, and then look back afterwards at the chaos left in the wake of my decisions.
I guess you might say that the long term effects of not listening or recognizing the One who dwells within our heart is more precarious than the trusting precariousness in that “still, small voice” in the present.