Friday Morning Personal Prayer of John Wesley

Mercifully this day watch over me with the eyes of Thy mercy. Direct my soul and body according to the rule of Thy will, and fill my heart with Thy Holy Spirit, that I may pass this day and all the rest of my days to Thy glory.

O Saviour of the world, God of God, Light of Light, Thou that art the brightness of Thy Father’s glory, the express image of His Person, Thou that hast destroyed the power of the devil, that hast overcome death, that sitteth at the right hand of the Father, Thou that wilt speedily come down in Thy Father’s glory to judge all men according to their works: be Thou my Light and my Peace. Destroy the power of the devil in me and make me a new creature.

O THOU who didst cast seven devils out of Mary Magdalene, cast out of my heart all corrupt affections.
O Thou who didst raise Lazarus from the dead, raise me from the death of sin.
Thou who didst cleanse the lepers, heal the sick and give sight to the blind, heal the diseases of my soul, open my eyes and fix them singly on the prize of my high calling, and cleanse my heart from every desire but that of advancing Thy glory.

O Jesus, poor and abject, unknown and despised, have mercy upon me, and let me not be ashamed to follow Thee.
O Jesus, hated, calumniated, and persecuted, have mercy upon me, and let me not be afraid to come after Thee.
O Jesus, betrayed and sold at a vile price, have mercy upon me, and make me content to be as my Master.
O Jesus, blasphemed, accused, and wrongfully condemned, have mercy upon me, and teach me to endure the contradiction of sinners.
O Jesus, clothed with a habit of reproach and shame, have mercy upon me, and let me not seek my own glory.
O Jesus, insulted, mocked, and spit upon, have mercy upon me, and let me run with patience the race set before me.
O Jesus, dragged to the pillar, scourged, and bathed in blood, have mercy upon me, and let me not faint in fiery trial.
O Jesus, crowned with thorns and hailed in derision;
O Jesus, burdened with our sins and the curses of the people;
O Jesus, affronted, outraged, buffeted, overwhelmed with injuries, griefs, and humiliations;
O Jesus, hanging on the accursed Tree, bowing the head, giving up the ghost, have mercy upon me, and conform my whole soul to Thy holy, humble, suffering Spirit.

O THOU who for the love of me hast undergone such an infinity of sufferings and humiliations, let me be wholly emptied of myself, that I may rejoice to take up my cross daily and follow Thee.

Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, I, miserable sinner, humbly acknowledge that I am altogether unworthy to pray for myself. But since Thou has commanded me to make prayers and intercessions for all men, in obedience to Thy command, and confidence of Thy unlimited goodness, I commend to Thy mercy the wants and necessities of all mankind.

Hear, O merciful Father, my supplications, and that for the sake of Thy Son, Jesus, and bring us, with all those who have pleased Thee from the beginning of the world, into the glories of Thy Son’s Kingdom; to whom with Thee and the Holy Ghost, be all praise for ever and ever.

Gregory the Theologian

Gregory the Theologian said: "God demands the following three virtues from every man who is baptized: for the soul, true faith; for the body, chastity; for the tongue, truth.... It is more essential to remember God than to breathe... you must think of God more often than you breathe."

Thursday evening Personal Prayer of John Wesley

Thursday Evening

My Lord and my God, thou seest my heart, and my desires are not hid from Thee.
I am ashamed when I think how long I have lived a stranger to Thee.
Lord, hear me, help me and show mercy unto me, for Jesus Christ’s sake.

To Thee, O God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier, I give up myself entirely: may I no longer serve myself, but Thee, all the days of my life.

I give Thee my understanding: may it be my only care to know Thee, Thy perfections, Thy works, and Thy will.
I give Thee my will. Whatsoever Thou willest may I will and that only. May I will Thy glory in all things.
I give Thee my affections. Do thou dispose of them all. Be Thou my love, my fear, my joy. And may nothing have any share in them but with respect to Thee and for Thy sake. What Thou lovest may I love; what thou hatest may I hate; and that in such measure as Thou art pleased to prescribe me.
I give Thee my body. My I glorify Thee with it and preserve it holy, fit for Thee, O God, to dwell in. May I neither indulge it nor use too much rigour toward it. but keep it, as far as in me lies, healthy, vigorous, and active, and fit to do Thee all manner of service, which Thou shalt call for.
I give Thee all my worldly goods. May I prize them and use them only for Thee. May I faithfully restore to Thee, in Thy poor, all Thou hast entrusted me with, above the necessities of my life, and be content to part with them too, whenever Thou shalt require them too, whenever Thou shalt require them at my hands.
I give Thee my credit and reputation. May I never value them but only in respect of Thee; nor endeavor to maintain them but as they may do Thee service and advance Thy honour in the world.
I give myself and my all. Let me look upon myself to be nothing, and to have nothing, out of Thee. Be Thou the sole desposer and governor of myself and all I have. Be Thou my portion and my all.
O God, when hearafter I shall be tempted to break this solemn engagement, when I shall be prest to conform to the world, and to the company and customs that surround me, may my answer be: I am not my own. I am not for myself, nor for the world, but for my God. I will give unto God the things which are God’s. God be merciful to me a sinner.

Have mercy, O Father of the spirits of all flesh, on all mankind. Convert all men to Thy truth. Bless the Church, heal its branches and establish it in truth and peace. Preserve and defend all Christian princes, especially our Sovereign and his family. Be merciful to this nation. Bless the clergy with soundness of doctrine and purity of life, the Government with wisdom, the magistrates with integrity and zeal, and the people with loyalty. Bless the universities with learning and holiness, that they may afford a constant supply of men to do Thee service.

Shower down Thy graces on all my relations, on all my friends and all that belong to this family. Comfort and relieve those that labour under any difficulties of body or mind; especially those who suffer for the testimony of a good conscience. And grant us all, together with Thy whole Church, an entrance into Thine everlasting Kingdom, through Jesus Christ, to whom with Thee and the blessed Spirit, Three Persons and One God, be ascribed all majesty, dominion, and power, now and for evermore.

Thursday Morning Personal Prayer of John Wesley

Eternal God, my sovereign Lord, I acknowledge all I am, all I have is Thine. Give me such a sense of Thy infinite goodness that I may return to Thee all possible love and obedience.

I humbly and heartily thank Thee for all the favours Thou has bestowed on me: for creating me after Thine own image, for daily preserving me by Thy good Providence, for redeeming me by the death of Thy blessed Son, and for the assistance of Thy Holy Spirit; for causing me to be born in a Christian country, for blessing me with plentiful means of salvation, with religious parents and friends, and frequent returns of Thy ever blessed Sacrament. I also thank Thee for Thy temporal blessings; for the preservation of me this night, for my health, strength, food, raiment, and all the other comforts and necessities of life.

And, O Father of mercies, I most humbly implore forgiveness of all my sins. Lo, I come now to do Thy will alone; and am resolved by Thy assistance to have no longer any choice of my own, but with singleness of heart to obey Th.y good pleasure. Father, not my will, but Thine be done, in all my thoughts, words, and actions.

O THOU all-sufficient God of angels and men, who art above all, and through all, and in all; from whom, by whom, and in whom are all things; in whom we live and move and have our being—may my will be as entirely and continually derived from Thine, as my being and happiness are.

O SOVEREIGN GOODNESS, O mighty Wisdom, Thou doest order and govern all things, even the most minute, even the most noxious, to Thy glory and the good of those that love Thee. O Father of the families of heaven and earth, Thou so disposest all events as may best magnify Thy goodness to all Thy children, especially those whose eyes wait upon Thee. I most humbly beseech Thee, touch me to adore all Thy ways, though I cannot comprehend them. Teach me to be glad that Thou art King, and to give Thee thanks for all things that befall me. And for that which is to come, give me Thy grace to do in all things what pleaseth Thee, and then with an absolute submission to Thy wisdom, to leave the issues of them in Thy hand.

Help me with Thy grace that whatsoever I shall do or suffer this day may tend to Thy glory. Keep me in love to Thee and to all men. Do Thou direct my paths and teach me to set thee always before me. Let not the things of this life, or my manifold concerns therein, alienate any part of my affections from Thee, nor let me ever pursue or regard them but for Thee and in obedience to Thy will.

EXTEND, O Lord, Thy pity to the whole race of mankind. Enlighten the Gentiles with Thy truth and bring into Thy flock Thy ancient people the Jews. Be gracious to Thy Church, and grant that she may always preserve that doctrine and discipline which Thou hast delivered to her. Grant that all of this nation may, whatsoever they do, do all to Thy glory. Bless all nurseries of true religion and useful learning and let them not neglect the end of their institution. Be merciful to all that are in distress, that struggle with pain, poverty, or reproach. Be Thou a guide to them that travel by land or water. Give a strong and quiet spirit to those who are condemned to death, liberty to prisoners and captives, and ease and cheerfulness to every sad heart. Give to all in error the light of Thy truth. Bring all sinners to repentance. And give to all heretics humility and grace to make amends to Thy Church by the public acknowledgment of a holy faith.

Last Thursday. . . .that section from Soul Tsunami

Last Thursday was our first “Into the Light” of the semester. It was an evening that I had been looking forward to for a few weeks. There is a lull that hangs over me mid way in the Summer break and I begin really missing our students and looking forward to reconnecting with them.

We had a great summer, in terms of ministry and maintenance, our Board really kicked in with some great work days and we accomplished so many things in preparation for the beginning of the Fall semester. One of the things we were able to do is meet at the end of June for the culmination of our Spring fundraiser, Riding our Bikes in the “tour de oink”. During that weekend we met and began vision ministry for the Fall and set our theme for the 2009-10 School year.

The theme is “Living Water” based on John 4:10-11. A meeting of Jesus and the woman at the well in the Samaritan village of Sychar. There are so many of what I call “spokes” in this story: The Well, Samaria, The Hour, the absence of the disciples, The original contractor of the Well-- Jacob, Jesus, the male Jewish Rabbi, The Woman, the living water vs regular well water. It is a brilliant tapestry offering promise and acknowledging, without apologies, the awkwardness of the situation.

The purpose in my message, on this first night of worship, was to lay out the theme by directing us to think about its context and who it was that was speaking. How “the Well” is still something that is relatable to us and how its context is vital to our understanding of this story. How we receive this story and in doing so also receive the “living water” and how we are compelled by this “living water’ to share it with those that are thirsty. How we can view our context on the University Campus and have eyes and ears to see how our context gives us opportunity to both receive and share this same “living water”

In trying to develop this notion of context I shared a section from “Soul Tsumani” by Lenard Sweet. Len Sweet is one of my favorite authors and he considers himself a “futurist” this book was written in 1999 and it cast a vision of what “Post Modern” culture would look like. Particularly in this section Dr. Sweet was fleshing out what he calls the “double ring”. I asked students to listen to the section that I read and ask themselves if indeed our culture looked like what Dr. Sweet 10 years ago was describing. The following is what I read to them.

“One of the characteristic features of postmodern culture is that opposite things happen al the same time without being contradictory. Anyone who doesn’t feel pulled in conflicting directions doesn’t understand Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle. Paul’s exclusion principle and Schrodinger’s wave equation. Where the modern age was predominantly either-or, the postmodern world is and/also. Or phrased more memorably, “the postmodernist always rings twice.”

This is an in-your-face society. This is a get-out-of-my-face society.

This is a culture where you want it to stop and you want it to go on.

This is a culture of outplacing and replacing, deployment and unemployment, high fat and low fat, no fat and fake fat.

This is a society where the nun Isabella in Hal Hartley’s 1994 movie Amateur can confess that she is a nymphomaniac---and admit she has never had sex. This is a culture where the sexiest lingerie and negligees are marketed by a firm that promotes a Victorian ambiance. This is a double-edged culture, a culture of paradox. Philosopher Manuel Castell, the intellectual heir to Hegel, has written a three volume magnum opus, The Information Age. He devotes his first volume to exploring how communications technologies are pulling us together. His second volume is dedicated to exploring the forces that are pulling us apart.

Four fundamental transitions in our perception of the world divide the modern from the postmodern era, creating the double-ring phenomenon.
1.) In the cosmic and quantum worlds, there are always two sides or parts to all the wholes. Physicist Niels Bohr’s principle of complementarity provides a scientific scaffolding to the double-ring phenomenon. Light is particles. Light is waves. Human existence is both then and there, particle and wave. Physicist Joseph J. Thomson received the Nobel Prize for showing that matter is made up of particles known as electrons. His son received the same prize for showing that electrons exhibit the properties of waves. Sound is bother wave and particle, light is both wave and particle. You and I are both matter and energy, you and I are both clumps of particles and waves of energy. Given the oneness of matter and spirit, not to hit the double ring is to sound a half truth. . .(Soul Tsunami, pp27-28)

As I was reading this section I realized(by the looks of some faces) I had ran off the road in my effort to talk about our context. I apologize for not being more clear to anyone that might be reading this and was there last Thursday. This notion of the “Double-Ring” is something that I think is vital to the context of our culture. At this point though I would argue that we don’t just have a “Double-Ring” anymore(if we ever had) but rather a “Multi-Ring”. And if there is multiples of rings to our context we are obliged to be listening for how they will unfold around us. And by identifying the layers thus be prepared to both receive and offer “living water”.

Tonight we will be looking at John 7:38. Another verse in which Jesus reference’s “Living Water” and identifies one of the sources or agitators of this water.

Less than a Week

In less than a week students new and old will be returning to the UCA campus. It has been a good summer, but I'm ready for everyone to get back and get into a new academic year. I consider the season's during this time. How each turn of the planet keeps us moving, moving, moving. I think about the notion that what we were created to be is in motion, moving in sync with the creator. Moving to where He leads us. And how each new movement, brings us both to new yet familiar places. Our shepherd leading us to green pastures that we may have been to before but that have had the opportunity in our absence to grow fresh and sustaining grass for us to graze on. I see in my minds eye these fresh pastures and also look for the brooks, rivers and lakes where we might quench our thirst. The watering holes that offer us the opportunity to pause for a cool drink. That simple water that fills us with what we need to live.

This year we will be thematically moving with the "Living Water" that Christ offers. That living water that he first offered to a woman at a Well. Only that living water that he offers comes to us from a place other than a Well. That living water that quench's our thirsts and continues to flow and move in and through us. We are moving with this water and even in our necesary moments of stillness, it continues to flow. Keeping us constantly in motion. My prayer is that as we journey that this living water will be shared and grow into a raging river.

The notion of lament

In the past I've considered the correlation of Lamentations with the rise of depression in our society. In my lifetime I've seen the growth of the health industry explode. Not that hasn't always been some form of remedy offered socially, however it seems the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st is off the scale with what it offers to the wider public. The advent of the internet pressing it even wider. I think about "depression" and how we identify it and begin medicating it. When I consider how wide it is I think is this "new" to society. Is this something that just popped up because of all the tampering that we have done medically in the last 50 years. Is there an association with the rise of depression with the change that we have affected in growing our crops and feeding out our livestock. Is there a correlation with our vacines, our population growth. . .etc. It goes on and on. I'm a casual conspiracy theorist so if I go to far I find the connections which end up doing not much else than frustrating me more.

Then. . I pause. I think, what if depression has been around all along. Where do we see sign's of it historically? What were the remedies for depression in years past? I look where I often do to scripture for some insights. And when I slow down and sink into God's word a little deeper I find the signs of depression rampant within God's word. Or at the very least one of the remedies of depression being worked out. Lamentation. A cry out of despair. A desperate weeping and moaning of the soul. Fist's shaken at the heavens shouting "My God, My God why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me from the words of my groaning? (Psalm 22:1) There it is! This doesn't come out of the mouth of a person who is happy, joyful and always walking around giving pep talks. This comes from a person who is weighed down. Like Stones placed on the chest. Someone who "feels" loss and abandonment. A person suffering from the affects of depression. Here though as we work through the Lament we see the balancing of what we "feel" and what is "real" or what is the direction we must turn ourselves in order to be delivered our of the morass.

22I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:

23You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him; stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!

24For he did not despise or abhor the affliction of the afflicted; he did not hide his face from me, but heard when I cried to him.

25From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will pay before those who fear him.

26The poor shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord. May your hearts live forever!

27All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord; and all the families of the nations shall worship before him.

28For dominion belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations.

29To him, indeed, shall all who sleep in the earth bow down; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, and I shall live for him.

30Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord,

31and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn, saying that he has done it.

Psalm 22:22-31.

We see in the first part of the Lament it is right to speak to shout to say how it is we "feel" God can take it. God does take it. As we move through our anger or despair, our pain and loneliness we are led to put our countenance in the right perspective to the only one who can deliver us. Praise is our remedy. Telling our story is the Remedy. God is our Remedy in the times of despair. It doesn't come at once. But it does come.

I don't want anyone reading this to hear me saying if your depressed your only remedy is to write a lament or Praise God. I at the least know the impact depression has had on those I love. We have to find help. However maybe part of our help can be joining our voices together, shouting our cries in unison. And finding our peace in the one who has the power to deliver us. Praising God in the midsts of our sorrow and resting of the certainty of Gods Love.