Random Notes

I. Face Down in a Memory, but Feelin Alright

So I was stalking Jessie’s flight. That red plane over the Red Sea is her flight from Paris to Nairobi. She is ultimately headed to Tanzania to check on some schools supported by the non-profit she works for. It is turning out to be pretty fruitful already, with new partners on the ground. Please remember her in prayer. And ask her about Blessing Hands, and maybe support their work of sending kids to school from rural areas of China, Myanmar, India, Philippines, Liberia, and Tanzania. The kids don’t get to go to school without this support.

II. The City’s Ripped Backsides

Our church is part of a prayer movement in Lexington. I think about 25 churches have agreed to take one day a month, to pray for 24 hours. The goal is to get the city prayed for night and day.

As part of that, our seminary intern John suggested some “worship nights,” basically some reflective praise and prayer. We are going to do them weekly during the summer. The first one was this Saturday on our day to pray for the city. We had a bit of a Holy Spirit intrusion.
I have a list of pastors that I send a short text to, for encouragement, on Sunday mornings. I decided to send a text asking them how our prayer meeting could pray for them. I thought maybe just a few would respond. I received 53 texts with prayer requests. We spent an hour praying for their requests. By Sunday morning, I had word of 6 answered prayers. There were a few main themes in the prayer requests.

Rest. Amanda Adkins noticed that right away. I mentioned to her that it is not always being tired from schedule. There's that. But it's more that we feel deeply what is happening in people's lives. We walk with many people through difficult issues. We go to every funeral. We preside over most of them. The family’s grief is ours, too. It wears you down. it’s not a complaint. It's just how it is.

Pastors asked for prayer as they lead new initiatives in their communities. They asked for more devoted times of prayer and listening to God.

A number of pastors asked for prayer because they have to have some difficult conversations.

Our Bishop, Kenneth Levingston, texted. Amazing. He asked for wisdom to lead the Global Methodist Church.

The big one: pastors want to see revival. They want the Holy Spirit to fall on their churches.

Your pastors are working hard. They want God’s best for you and your churches.

III. Other People, They Can Quit

And maybe I should not say this, but I will. I have switched up my praying for the pastors I send encouraging texts to on Sunday mornings. I realized pastors face a lot discouragement. Some of it is self-inflicted; being too critical about how you preached or led the service, the whole coulda shoulda woulda. You’d be surprised at the critical things people say right after the service and you get to stand there and smile for the next person. I guess probably that bothers the pastor’s spouses and kids more.

So I have shifted the prayer and encouragement for after the services.

IV. Love Divine All Loves Excelling

Peeps, the Global Methodist Church has immense potential. At the General Conference, every Bishop and Bishop candidate that preached, preached on holiness. At last year’s MidSouth Annual Conference, John Oswalt taught on how Pentecost should be more important to us than it is! This year, Bishop Levingston mentioned holiness almost every time he spoke. And Sue Nicholson taught heavy stuff from Isaiah 52 and Romans 10. More people should have been there, but we could not have fit them. Annual Conference with standing room only. It’s like a revival. We might start to act like the only reason for a Methodist Church to exist is to preach entire sanctification. (That actually is the only reason.)