Continuing with the prayer theme.

Howdy howdy Gang,

Before I say anything else I want you to right now stop what you are doing open your calendar and reserve 6pm for this Thursday. Write "Meet Upside Down Group outside Rock Bottom."

Now that you have done that it's time to talk about this weeks assignment. It's a continuation of what we've been talking about. First we sat still listened to God and prayed what we heard him say. Next we went for a walk and did the same thing. Now that we have had two weeks practice listening to God as we pray. It's time to do it as a group time to support each other and learn that we do hear from God even if we don't always recognize it as such. We are going to do this by going on a bit of a treasure hunt. I can't give you (Sorry wont) give you any more details than that at this point in time but I will tell you this is like no other treasure hunt you've been on. This can be very challenging mentally and really forces us to listen to God and is incredibly fun. After the hunt is complete those that want too will head on inside Rock Bottom for an evening of fun. To help you with your schedule our approximate time frame is Treasure Hunt from 6 to 8 then hang out after that till you're ready to leave.

The hang afterward part will serve two purposes. One it will give us a chance to talk about our experience on the hunt and Two selfishly I am making it a little bit of a party as well because it is my last chance to see everyone before leaving on my trip Friday morning. If you can't make it to the hunt please feel free to come to Rock Bottom. I will also reveal a painting that Bill Butler (Thomas Lift) did for the Upside Down Group. It's a painting that talks about what the group is all about and let me tell you it is incredible. Better than I could have ever imagined.

You don't have to rsvp to come but I would appreciate it if you did. This way we can know what to plan for and know who to look for. If you want to come but are going to be late late me know that as well we may be able to make arrangements for you to join a group already on the hunt.

Thanks all have a great week and as always "Lets live it Upside Down"

Walking and Praying (Easier than chewing gum)

Welcome Gang,

Did we have a good experience listening and praying last week? I know it can be a difficult thing to do at first “sit back listen to God and pray what he tells us to.” Really it’s counter intuitive. But then again I honestly can’t think of much about having a living breathing relationship with God that isn’t (At first). But the great thing about God is the more we embrace this “Upside Down Lifestyle” the more natural it seems to become. Don’t get me wrong there to a certain degree will always be that struggle but the more we embrace God and his lifestyle the less that pull will become.

This week I want to challenge you to do one of two things. If you are still struggling with learning to pray as you hear God leading then stick with it. Each day sit down and invite the Holy Spirit to guide you in your prayers. Then just sit and listen don’t speak until you hear God tell you what to say. “But how will I know it’s him and not me?” You will know. Even if you don’t know for sure go ahead and pray it. As long as it doesn’t go against God feel free. But I think God can speak in such a way to make it clear. For those of you that are comfortable with listening prayer lets go ahead and ad some footsteps to it. Begin walking down the street and say the same thing. Holy Spirit Guide me on where to go and what you want me to pray as we walk. He might take you on a walk around the neighborhood and have you pray for your neighbors. But be open to him taking you right up to someone. The other day I went on a walk and began praying in this way. At first I found myself praying for friends and family specific needs that I knew they had. I also found myself praying for friends I haven’t thought about in years and praying for them in ways that I’ve never heard them express need for. Then I felt God tell me to turn left I knew where he was taking me. At the end of the block there is a man that lives in a tent in front of his house that has fallen into disrepair. I’ve waved at him from a distance and even said hello but that is all. I’ve always felt for him but never known what to do never been able to begin a conversation probably because of my own discomfort. So as I walked down the street toward his tent I thought “this will be the same” he may be home and I’ll wave but that is all. It wasn’t! I waved he waved back Then I don’t know if it was he or I who said something else but I found myself walking up to the tent he unzipped the door and we chatted for about a half hr. Was there a prayer or a big miracle? No prayer but a miracle I think so. I began a conversation with a man I’ve been wanting to chat with for very near a year. I kept looking for that prayer opportunity but never really heard God say go for it. He just wanted us to chat. It’s odd you would think that prayer would be the natural. I can think of plenty of things to pray about and I will pray for those things but God was just calling us to chat. One other time God led me to a homeless man that I chatted with and gave him some work to do at my house (Even invited him to church) More often though God simply points out things on my walk that I wouldn’t have thought to pray for, or he reminds me of friends from the past, or the struggles of current friends. Sometimes it’s not struggles he leads me to pray for but thanking him for blessing friends or myself or asking for blessing for friends, family or myself. I tell you all of this just so you can know what to expect as you go on your walk (Anything) God could ask you to do or pray anything just be open to it. He may ask you to hop in your car and drive across town or to stand in one place as he reveals himself to you.

There ya go. Your assignment for the week “Go out and pray as God leads you to pray” It will be fun I promise.

Have a great week and as always. “Let’s live it Upside Down!”

Here’s a little heads up for ya. Next week your assignment will be to go on a “Treasure hunt.” Some of you know what that is others will soon learn. Here’s a hint “It follows perfectly with what we are talking about.” I’ll send out a note in the next day or two asking you to set aside a certain day. This one is a group activity.

Once again, It's prayer time!

Hey Gang,

As you may or may not have noticed I once again missed a blog last week. This time I even knew what to say and didn't get to it. That is because God gave me a great blessing last week but that blessing threw off my schedule. He gave me work. I now have a job that will keep me busy up till the time I leave for my trip. Can I just say we have a really cool God. I spend one night going over my budget and begin to be concerned about having any dollars in my pocket when I leave then bam the day after asking him about it he gives me work. Now when I leave in two weeks I'll actually have a little bit of money in my pocket.

This leads me beautifully to our assignment this week. You see things seem to happen when we pray. I mean really pray. I don't have scripture to throw out this time just experience. You see when I'm going through my day to day and praying through my day I don't always get a ton of response. But suddenly when I am in real need when my very soul reaches out to God in prayer I hear from him (Not always exactly how I hope too but I still hear from him.) What does this mean? Does it mean God only cares when we are in a state of desperation? I don't think so. As I think back on these times I ask myself "Is there a difference in how I pray" I can only speak for me but I have found the answer is a definite YES! I have found that my prayers change from "God do this for me" To "God help me" In other words I move from a list of specific requests to "God I need you please come and work in my life" My guess is that God wants us to realize just who he is. He wants to be appreciated, he wants to be loved, and he wants us to realize that his plans for us are better than our plans for us.

I hear ya Larry but how do I reach that point of prayer without getting to desperation first? I'm glad you asked. This is something I learned from a prayer class in my Church in Houston (The Houston Vineyard) I've always kept it in mind but rarely practiced. I was recently reminded of it while reading a wonderful book that a group of my friends are currently reading called "The Celebration of Disciplines" Rather than going to prayer with a list of specific requests try going to prayer with one specific request "Come Holy Spirit, Speak to me tell me how to pray" I know it sounds kind of strange "Praying to God asking him to tell me how to pray" But if you think about it it really makes sense. God already knows our thoughts right? God already knows our needs right? Well if he already knows these things then why do we pray? Prayer is a dialogue it's communication. God knows our thoughts but we don't know his. So I would like to suggest that prayer is opening the dialogue. "God you already know my issues and concerns tell me what you think about it." God then answers "This is what I think about it and this is what I want to do about it." To which we respond God this is what I hear you saying you are much smarter than me so please do it?" To which God says great now that we have that out of the way lets chat. What would you like to know about me? I would love to tell you all you want to know."

Don't agree with me? You don't have to. Here is what I would like to challenge you to do and your assignment this week. Try it out! Set aside a prayer time where you sit down with no specific request in mind no preset agenda and ask him "God how would you like me to pray?"

sit and wait to hear from him. Then pray what you hear. See what happens. I believe God will show himself in wonderful ways. If I'm wrong what are you out? A few minutes of sitting and listening to God? If that's all you're ahead of the game anyway.

Ok Gang hope you have a great week. Let's Live it Upside Down!

How do I respond?

Howdy Gang, Are ya still here with me? Sorry I missed getting a blog out to you last week but the simple truth of the matter is my brain wasn’t processing well and I didn’t want to send something forced out to you. Not to worry there is nothing forced about this weeks note. It is something I’ve been processing for a couple weeks now and it is an assignment that I believe each and everyone of us are called to do. So Gang here it is, read it, think about it, pray about it and then please, please, please DO IT!

You may think I’m a little on the slow side in responding to this but hey it’s never too late right. Our topic and assignment this week is wrapped around the whole ELCA Convention and their decision to allow ministers who are in committed homosexual relationships. Don’t worry I’m not going to spend my time talking about how right or wrong this decision is and the scriptural basis for my belief. I’m sure you’ve been inundated with those debates. What I am going to talk about today is the sadness that has filled my heart. Yes because of the decision (Even after what seemed to be a vote clearly cast by God himself.) But more than that I have noticed that each time a divisive issue hits the church Satan takes it as an opportunity to show the world how judgmental the church is. Or points out that if the church can’t agree on these issues how is it possible that they are hearing from God? He gives people a reason (Albeit a terrible one) to turn from God. The church that seeks to honor God gets stuck between a rock and a hard place. They don’t seem to have a good response in their pocket. If I stay and don’t take a strong stand I am telling the world that the decision wasn’t a terrible one. If I pull away and no longer agree to be a part of the institution I am telling the world that we are intolerant. “But Larry all they have to do is explain the stance and let everyone know they love the person just can’t be a part of the sin” Yep they can try that approach and the world will still look at them and say “You are only wrapping your bigotry in nice sounding phrases” We have all seen and heard examples of this time and time again over the years. Meanwhile others in the church are responding however feels right. Some yelling out in righteous indignation others trying to explain to friends and coworkers the reason for their disappointment (No matter how calmly they try to explain the coworkers tend to still feel you’re just being judgmental) The only people that have the opportunity to say anything and not sound judgmental are those that are somehow (In this case) tied to the gay community (Working to promote AIDS awareness, or Have friends that are Gay, Have helped to advocate for laws protecting them from discrimination, etc…) These people have the opportunity to explain their stance and not sound judgmental because they have already proven they are not. But what about the rest of us? How do we respond? What about our church especially (at the moment) an ELCA church?

Here is my suggestion. If you’re not a pastor or a part of the church leadership. Our best response is to PRAY. Pray that when the issue comes up and you are around that God give you the best most loving way to respond and that he open their hearts to hear. Pray for the ELCA in general. That the leadership have their eyes opened to the lies that they have been fed. (Believe it or not they are acting in what they believe to be the best interest of the church and I think God as well.) If you are a member of an ELCA Church pray for your specific church and it’s leadership that they are given the wisdom to know how to best respond. Let your pastors know you are praying as well. If you’re not a member ask God if there is a specific church or pastor he would like you to pray for.

Here is what I find funny. I’m looking at this and thinking “How could anyone respond to this is a non damaging way and show the world that God is Loving and caring?” I have a hard time finding the correct response thinking we are in a corner on this one. Then I look to Jesus in Matthew 22 and again in Luke 20 it talks about the Pharisees trying to trick Jesus. They ask him a question that has no correct response “Should we pay taxes to ceasar?” If he says yes than he is a traitor if he says no then he goes against Rome. Yet he finds a way to respond that correctly puts his in accusers their place and later on asks them a question that they have no response to.

Our assignment this week and it is an assignment for all is to PRAY ask God to give our leaders just such an answer. To give them an answer that keeps the detractors at bay. Then to give them a question to ask that keeps this issue out of the church for good. Now I have a second assignment and this is for only those that feel led or called to do this. On Wednesday of this week (Tomorrow) Sept 2^nd at 6pm since it is the Largest ELCA in Iowa and from what I hear the fastest growing in the country. I am going to head over to Lutheran Church of Hope and pray specifically for it and it’s leaders. That God give Pastor Mike the wisdom and the courage to respond in the best possible manner. I assume that they have already given an initial response but it is far from over. If you can and feel called to it please feel free to join me I will be by the front doors at 6pm then begin walking the perimeter and praying. There is nothing fancy or organized about the evening. If you can’t come at 6 come earlier or later and pray. If you don’t find me or don’t know what I look like and are afraid to ask don’t worry about it just begin praying and leave when you are done.

Alright Gang there ya have it. Have a great week and as always Let’s live it upside down