All posts by mjfelker1980

Prayer

Circle Up

This week we I am kicking off a brand-new sermon series called, The Prayer Circle. This series is inspired by a great book called The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson.

Since reading this book last December, I have been challenged to be more SPECIFIC in my prayer, to pray with more CONFIDENCE, to pray THROUGH the difficulties in life, and to pray FOCUSED, with laser intensity, on God’s will.

This Sunday’s message will focus on being specific in your prayers. While I will talk about the Battle of Jericho and Jesus’ interaction with two blind men in Matthew 20, I will also focus on John 15-17. Jesus tells us that he is the true vine and invites us to remain in him and he will sustain us. In the High Priestly prayer, Jesus specifically names his disciples in his prayer- both those that were with him in life and those who will believe in him because of the Good News.

One thing I have really learned about being specific in my prayers is that being vague and unspecific in prayer can cause us to become bored and listless in our prayer lives.

In prayer, we are bring our family members, friends, neighbors, leaders, and lives before the God that hears us and has the power to intercede and change us. When it comes to prayer, Jesus is asking us the same question he posed to the two blind men, “What do you want me to do for you?”

Will you trust and believe enough in him to take whatever is on your heart before him in prayer? Be specific and don’t hold back.

 

Book Review, Books, Leadership

Why I’m Reading What I’m Reading

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
I do not read fiction very often. One of my reading goals this year is to read at least two works of classic literature. There are a few driving forces that caused me to choose the Hobbit. First, the imagination and depth of writing from Tolkien really appeals to me and speaks to my love for stories of redemption. In an interview at DesiringGod.com, pastor and author Timothy Keller said this about Tolkien:

Tolkien has helped my imagination. He was a devout Catholic—and I am not. However, because he brought his faith to bear into narrative, fiction, and literature, his Christianity—which was pretty ‘mere Christianity’ (understanding of human sin, need for grace, need for redemption)—fleshed out in fiction, has been an inspiration to me.

What I mean by inspiration is this: he gives me a way of grasping glory that would otherwise be hard for me to appreciate. Glory, weightiness, beauty, excellence, brilliance, virtue—he shows them to you in some of his characters.

When people ask: how often have you read Lord of the Rings?, the answer is: I actually never stop. I’m always in it.

Keller’s words confirmed to me that not only would I benefit from reading a bit more of Tolkien but that I would thoroughly  enjoy doing so.

Secondly, the first of two films based on The Hobbit is scheduled for release this December and I wanted to read the source material beforehand. The final reason I chose to read the Hobbit is rather personal. I want to read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings books to my son when he gets older. I want to share with him the sense of adventure, loyalty, sacrifice, and standing together to fight evil that Tolkien magnificently brings to life. I’m practicing some voices as well. I do a pretty good Gandalf.

Simply Strategic Stuff by Tim Stevens and Tony Morgan
Over the last year I have had to take a crash course in church administration. The tag line on this book says, “Help for leaders drowning in the details of running a church.” Um… yeas please! Tim and Tony provide 99 brief chapters of advice, tips, and challenges to help you hire staff, communicate more clearly, cast vision, and build teams. I’ve tried to read a few of these chapters each day and journal my thoughts about how the information given can help me in my current context.

Lit!: A Christian Guide to Reading by Tony Reinke
I read quite a bit. In fact, the plan is that I will read somewhere between 30-40 books in 2012. So why would I want to read a book about reading when I could be reading about any other subject? The reason I chose to read Lit! is that I want to become a more enlightened reader and more intentional reader. I have been reading Tony Reinke’s blog, Miscellanies, for years and I have very much appreciated his insight and keen interest in the written word. In this book, Tony gives the reader a theology of reading and he teaches you how to discern what to read. The second half of the book is filled with practical instructions about the art of reading. Tony covers everything from reading faster to organizing what you read to highlighting/taking notes on what you read. My hope is the Lit! will help me be a better reader so I can communicate what I’m learning more effectively.

In The Name of Jesus by Henri Nouwen
I first read In The Name of Jesus as I was starting out in my first full-time ministry position as a Campus Minister. I try and read this book every so often to be reminded of my calling of leadership. This is Nouwen’s meditation of the temptations of Jesus and how they relate to the temptations that Christian leaders face in the course of leading and serving those around them. The temptations to be relevant, popular, and out in front bubble up in the heart of everyone who leads but there is hope. Looking to Jesus we see how to overcome through prayer, ministry, and being led by the Spirit. I recommend this book to every pastor- young or old.

Books, Discipleship, Ethos, Hope, Leadership, Mission, Resources

Why I Read

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“If you don’t read books, you don’t believe in love. Love is this idea of promoting growth in other people by sharing your intangibles. Reading books is a commitment– a several hundred page commitment to learn a complex idea and own it fully. Now, if you go out and you share knowledge with someone, what you will do is you will establish trust and respect and admiration. You are are an instant mentor because you are taking the time to learn complex ideas and to to teach them to others. Everybody that commits themselves to this can be a mentor. You have no excuse not to do this.” – Tim Sanders, author of Love is the Killer App

Ethos, Faith in Action, Jesus, Jesus is the Christ, Lauds

Blessed

When it is late at night and everyone has gone to bed I find myself alone in the quiet and stillness- often for the first time of day.

It is these times that I’m able to reflect on the events that have transpired over the course of the day. I think about things I learned or opportunities I missed. I think about places where I fell short and victories attained. It is in these times when I feel a strong hand form the Lord.

It is in these times that I know I am blessed.

  • I have a wife that loves me unconditionally.
  • I have a beautiful son who has a personality as large as his heart.
  • I have a beautiful daughter that is, right this minute, being knitted together by her heavenly Father.
  • I get to serve a church body that I love with all my heart.
  • I have men in my life that walk beside me as mentors, guides, and friends.
  • I have the ability to read and laugh and grow and share and the ability to do countless other things.
  • I have a Savior who, while I was still a sinner, died for me and purchased my freedom with his own life.

I live a crazy BLESSED life.

Want to know a secret? So do you.

Get quite, get still, and get thankful for all that you have been blessed with.

Chase the Lion

Doubt

Doubt hit me pretty hard yesterday.

I’ve never had a panic attack but my guess is that one started to kick up in my heart as I started thing about what I want to accomplish over the course of my life and ministry.

That’s too big for you.
That’s way too hard.
Do you realize how impossible that is?
You don’t even know what you are doing.
You can’t possibly begin to think that you of all people could ever…

My chest tightened and my confidence eroded. That voice was and is right about everything.

My dreams are big.
Leading and serving is hard.
I don’t always know what I’m doing.

I have no faith in myself. My faith is somewhere else.

My faith is in the One who is the Biggest and Greatest.
My faith is in the One for whom nothing is too difficult.
My faith is in the One who does the impossible.
My faith is in the One who was and is and is to come.

Ultimately my faith is not in the abilities that I have or the circumstances that surround me. Mt faith is in Jesus.

Colossians 1:15–20 NIV11
“The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”

My dreams are big.
Leading and serving is hard.
I don’t always know what I’m doing.

But I have confidence that One who who began a good work in me will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. In this, I have no doubt.

You can have that confidence too!

Experience, Faith in Action, Leadership, Mission, Prayer, Self-Leadership

Setting Goals for 2012

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I hope everyone had a very, Merry Christmas and that you were able to spend time with your family and friends over the holiday weekend. In less than one week, we will be celebrating the New Year so today I want to give you a few tips on planning and preparing so that  2012 can be a great year for you and those closest to you.

For the last week, I have been taking a few minutes out of each day in order to plan and set some goals for 2012. Over the years, I have gathered a handful of tips that have helped me set and achieve goals. I have come across these tips in books or at conferences or from practical experience. It is my hope that at least one of these tips will help you. Nelson Searcy talks about living a philosophy of “Learn & Return.” He says that anytime you learn something significant you should gladly return it back to the Kingdom by sharing what you’ve learned with others. It is my hope that by sharing some of what I’ve learned about setting goals that your life will be impacted in such a way that you will want to share this with someone else.

Begin and End In Prayer
When setting goals you definitely want to begin with prayer. You want to make sure that the plans you are making or the things you want to accomplish are firmly set and find their meaning within the purposes of God. When I am in a season of setting goals I often start by praying through Psalm 139. Asking God to search your heart and to test your motives is a difficult but crucial task if you are going to do anything of real significance for God this year. The psalm ends by asking God to lead you in his way- his will for your life. You can pick some things to do this year or you can ask the God of the Universe to help you accomplish great things that will have a lasting impact on you and those around you. To me, the choice is easy. Spend some time praying before you just start listing things you’d like to do this year.

Also, make sure to end your planning time in prayer. Thank God for the wisdom and insight he has provided. Pray that he will give you the strength and focus you need to carry out the goals he has given you. Praying before and after your planning puts a Prayer Parenthesis around your goals.

Think in Categories
In 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Steven Covey encourages you list out the various life roles you play on a daily basis. For me, I have about six roles and relationships that I do life in every day. I am a Disciple of Jesus, a Husband, a Father, a Minister, a Friend, and a Son/Brother. Each of these roles call for a different set of responsibilities and growth happens differently in each of the realms. I have a different set of goals for developing my relationship with Jesus and I have different goals to help me be a greater spiritual leader in my home as a husband and father. There is a sense where growth in one area will impact the others but I feel like God calls me to list specific goals for each of these separately.

You can also break up your goals in to areas such as Emotional, Spiritual, Relational (What are my goals for my relationships this year?), Influence (Who do I need to influence this year and how?), Physical (What are my goals for my physical health this year?), Financial, and Intellectual (How am I going to grow intellectually this year?).

Breaking you goals up into categories helps you see what areas need growth and it can help you be specific about what goals to set.

Be Specific
Often, our goals are pretty vague. Getting specific helps us craft a plan for actually achieving the goals we set before us.

“I want to grow closer to God this year.” Ok. How? What steps are you going to take to grow closer to him? Will you spend more time reading your Bible? Will you make it a goal to pray more consistently? Be specific with this goal by stating something like this:

It is my goal to grow closer to God this year. In order to do this I will start my year off with a fast and I will read one of the gospels each week for the entire year.

“I want to love my wife more deeply.” What are you going to do to achieve this goal? Will you write her a love letter each week? Will you arrange a babysitter each week so that you can treat her to a weekly date night? Specific example:

It is my goal to love my wife more deeply through daily sending her a text message telling her how much she means to me, weekly sending her a card by mail, and monthly planning a date night to reconnect as a couple.

Don’t set vague goals. Vague goals do not change lives.

Tell Someone
Accountability is setting goals is a must. Tell someone your goals. Share with someone you hope and plans. Let a friend celebrate your victories and lift you up when you fail. Goals set in community impact a greater number of people. Don’t keep your goals to yourself.

Pray Hard, Work Hard
A phrase that I have always loved is “Pray like it depends on God, Work like it depends on you.” I have been using this phrase since I first heard it in college. This idea of Praying Hard and Working Hard recently popped up again because it played a big role in Mark Batterson’s The Circle Maker and Dave Ramsey’s EntreLeadership (two of my top 5 books for 2011). Batterson writes that too often we set goals, pray to God about what we want,and then fail to do anything because we want God to just give us what we’ve asked for. We shouldn’t simply pray and walk away. We should pray and entrust our needs and desires to God but then we should be faithful to get after it and work toward that end. Sometimes God is gracious and drops things in our laps. Most of the time though God answers our prayer when we are obedient to him. You aren’t working to curry God’s favor so that he will give you what you desire. You’re work is carried out as an act of faith and trust in the One who truly determines every outcome. God delivered his people from the hand of Pharaoh but Moses still had to travel to Egypt. God gave Jericho to the Israelites but Joshua still had to march. Jesus prayed that God’s will be done but he still had to go to the cross. Praying hard and Working hard are not at odds. Both are acts of faith and both are needed when you set out to plan and achieve godly goals.

Celebrate
There are 366 days, 52 weeks, and 12 months in 2012. Celebrate little victories along the path of achieving your goals and celebrate big time when you are able to cross a goal off of your list. Two passage that will help you celebrate small and large victories are Ecclesiastes 3:11 and Lamentations 3:22-24.

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. (Ecclesiastes 3:11 NIV)

“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” (Lamentations 3:22–24 ESV)

God wants to accomplish great things in and through your life this year. It is my prayer that you will set aside some time in the next few days to plan and dedicate your time, talent, and treasure to following after the goals God sets in your heart.

For more on prayer and setting goals, check out The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson which helped inspire and give structure to today’s post.

Discipleship, Ethos

Choices

Stress is a choice. You cannot always control what happens to you or around you but your response is the one thing you can control. You can choose to be stressed or you can choose a different response.

Leadership is a choice. Stop worrying about when those other people on your team are going to step up and quit whining about those ahead of you who are supposed to be the ones out in front. Leadership isn’t a position. Leadership isn’t power or control. Leadership is choosing to do the right things in order to help others achieve. You can choose to wait for someone else or you can choose to lead right now wherever you are.

Development is a choice. “I don’t have time to read.” Wrong. You choose to do other things with your time than read. “I can’t afford that conference.” False. You choose to spend you money on other things. Each day you have an opportunity to get better at whatever it is that you do. You can read a book, access a blog, call someone, attend a conference, download a podcast, etc, etc, etc. You can choose to remain the way you are right now or you can choose to develop yourself in order to achieve greater results.

Parenting is a choice. When I became a dad the greatest bit of advice I received was when a friend told me, “Parent is a verb.” That has stuck with me every single day. You can choose to not engage with your family or you can choose to parent.

Discipleship is a choice. When Jesus called us to follow him he called us to be his disciples. A disciple is someone who seeks to pattern their life after their teacher- their rabbi. 1John 2:6 says, “Whoever flames to follow him must live as Jesus lived.” Following Jesus means choosing to live like he lived. It means choosing the way of Jesus over my way. Disciples grow and mature and are transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ. They do not remain the same as they were when they were called. You can choose your way of living or you can choose The Way of Life.

Serving is a choice. Jesus made a conscious decision to serve. “For the Son of Man came to serve not be served.” Serving others is a choice. You can choose to use others for what they can do for you or you can choose to be like the King of the Universe and serve others.

Life is a series of choices. What will you choose today?

 

Christmas, Prayer

21 Prayers for the Holidays #1

Pray for those who have experienced the pain and heartache of losing a loved one this year.

Christmas can be an incredibly hard time for those who have lost loved ones. The pain and hurt is only magnified if this is the first Christmas without them.

I’ve always appreciated the way Eugene Peterson translated Matthew 5:4 in the Message. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives comfort to those who mourn saying, “You’re blessed when you feel like you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.”

Take some time today to pray that those who are hurting and missing their spouse or child or friend will be comforted by God. Pray that he will embrace them as only he can and will carry them through their grief.

Additional Scriptures:
“The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.” (Isaiah 61:1–3 NIV11)

“‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:4 NIV11)

 

Advent, Prayer

21 Prayers for the Holidays

During the month of November, people all across Facebook used their status updates to express their Thankfulness for the people and the blessing they have received in their life. While I didn’t personally participate by posting status updates, I was impacted by reading what my friends and family members we thankful for. They helped me reassess my life and what I was truly thankful for.

As November came to a close, I began thinking how I could start something meaningful through the month of December to continue a heart posture of thankfulness. This morning, I heard God issue me a challenge.

As of today there are 21 days until Christmas Day. The holidays can be a wonderful time filled with family, friends, music, celebration, and joy. In fact, this is probably my favorite time of year. However, just below the surface of this joyous season, pain and hurt and confusion and sorrow are also present.

What if I spent the next 21 days praying for different groups of people during the holiday season? What if we prayed for people who were hurting and struggling? What is we prayed for people that were experiencing times of joy and love this season? What if prayed for those overseas?

What if we did it together?

For the next 21 days, I will be posting a prayer each day here on the blog and through my status update on Facebook.

So, I’m issuing this challenge: Will you join me in praying for people over the next 21 days? Between now and Christmas day, will you take time out of your day to lift others up in prayer?

I will post the first prayer later today- around 2pm CST.

Leadership

Vision > Resources

You don’t have to have resources in order to have VISION.

You don’t have to have cash flow to focus on your VALUES.

You don’t have to arrive in order to live out your CORE BELIEFS.

Too many sit around and bemoan the facts that they can’t do anything with the little that they have.

If you chase after a VISION from God and live out those VALUES that are consistent with your CORE BELIEFS than I would be willing to bet that soon you won’t lack any of those resources you want.