Why Love the City?

“For your people love every stone in her walls and show favor even to the dust in her streets.”
(Psalms 102:14)

““O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me.” (Matthew 23:37)

When people have a love for the city, that is something they share in common with Jesus. He loves the city also, but he sees the people in the city as the unique children that they are. He knows their pain and brokenness and He longs to gather these children under His wings where they would find the protection and healing that nothing and no one else can give.


A love for the city must involve a love for the individuals in the city. It must also involve maximum effort to bring these children of the city to Jesus. Only He can help the individuals in the city in a way that brings what they need.

Lord, I pray today for my city. For Seattle. Raise up laborers - people who work to bring people to you for the healing that only You can give.

Spiritual Kryptonite

Iris and I are in the midst of one of those ministry highs that God occasionally allows in the lives of His kids. Over Labor-Day Weekend, we gathered with more than 400 Christ-followers from across the military. Their faith, hope and love combined with commitment and zeal was contagious and overwhelming. At one point we met with the army gang and heard ministry reports from twenty-three different army locations. There were stories of people coming to faith, of baptisms, of new communities started, of people taking the gospel overseas. Everywhere were signs of growth, health, and vibrancy.

We left that mountain-top experience and dove into a season of visiting several of our ministries at army installations. Everywhere we are seeing ordinary people advancing the gospel in extraordinary ways. God is really working in the military these days and I'm convinced that what is happening in the military will overflow to the cities and the nations. (We are already seeing the beginnings of that).

Still in the middle of all this, I got up early to read my Bible and was struck by these Words from God to Ezekiel about Assyria: “Because of the magnificence I gave this tree, it was the envy of all the other trees of Eden, the garden of God. “Therefore, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because it became proud and arrogant, and because it set itself so high above the others, reaching to the clouds, I handed it over to a mighty nation that destroyed it as its wickedness deserved. I myself discarded it.”
(Ezekiel 31:9–11 NLT)

Assyria had become great and mighty in many ways - even blessing the nations that surrounded them. The problem came when the leaders of that nation began to take credit for that which God had done in blessing them. We see this pattern again and again throughout scripture. God blesses, the blessed people become arrogant (somehow believing that the blessing of God was self-created) and God then humbles the people by removing His hand of blessing. “Let no other nation proudly exult in its own prosperity, though it be higher than the clouds, for all are doomed. They will land in the pit along with all the proud people of the world.” (Ezekiel 31:14 NLT)

Is it really possible to stop the work of God? Maybe not, but it is possible to stop the work of God from flowing through me. There's a universal principle that God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6, 1Peter 5:5). I don't know about you, but I don't want God opposed to me. And I don't know about you, but I want (need!) God's grace.

Pride originated with Satan. It flows out of an unwillingness to humble ourselves before God or an attitude of indifference or independence from God.  Nothing good comes from pride. The end result of pride is always destruction. Pride is bad; humility is good. So how do we stay humble (especially during times of great blessing)?

This truth helps me more than any: Jesus is humble. If anyone had a right to be prideful, it was Jesus; yet He was humble. What do we have to be proud of? Is there anything good in our lives that did not originate outside of ourselves? Jesus lived humility and He commanded humility. Jesus' birth, His life and His death were those of a humble man. He never exalted Himself, but instead exalted His Father. He told His followers that those who exalted themselves would be humbled and those who humbled themselves would be exalted.


So how does one learn humility? Study and imitate Christ. He lived life in a humble manner.

“Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God.” (Hebrews 12:2 MESSAGE)

The Tragedy of Neglecting Generational Thinking

“Never before had there been a king like Josiah, who turned to the LORD with all his heart and soul and strength, obeying all the laws of Moses. And there has never been a king like him since.”

(2 Kings 23:25)

“Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah. He did what was evil in the LORD’s sight, just as his ancestors had done.”

(2 Kings 23:31–32)

““My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,”

(John 17:20)

If we are serious about obeying Christ in His command to make disciples of all nations, it will never be enough just to have a ministry - even a significant ministry. Our good works will be of no lasting value unless it is a generational ministry. Josiah was a good king who took extraordinary measures to cleanse Judah and Israel of idolatry. Yet, as soon as he was gone and his son took over, people reverted to their pagan ways - to their eventual destruction.  Even for Jesus, cleansing the temple was not enough. Healing and preaching were not enough. Even His investment in His disciples was not enough. What was essential was a generational movement that stretched even to us today. We can see this in the generational nature of Jesus' prayer in John 17.

A key to generational ministry is imparting the legacy of the Gospel to laborers and leaders who will disciple the next generation with a vision for the one that comes after.  I must continue to prioritize investment in the next generation. One generation must commend the works of God to another. I also must pray into the generations that I can't personally touch. Just another practical lesson from the life and prayer of Jesus.

Promises, promises

“Lord, where is your unfailing love? You promised it to David with a faithful pledge.” (Psalms 89:49)

“They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.”” (2 Peter 3:4)

When I first started following Christ, I read the stories about Dawson Trotman (founder of The Navigators) going to the hills of California early in the morning to pray and seek the Lord for his city, his nation, and the nations. He and his small group of prayer partners began to "claim promises". I believe that my life and ministry flow from those promises that God kept to Daws through the decades. Looking for promises from God became a part of my times in the word and fueled my own prayer life and it has to this day. My Bible and more importantly, my life is marked with those promises.

Yet there are many promises that I have not seen fulfilled. What does this mean? Did I really hear from God? Did the promises fail? I especially had doubts about promises God gave in leading us to move to Latvia  (one such promise is in the picture below). When we were forced to leave Latvia, I had very little evidence that these promises were being fulfilled. As the years went by, I lost contact with many of the people there. Then one day, I listened to a message from Mike Treneer (International President of The Navigators) in which he stated that God gives promises not because he will do something right away, but because he will do something after a period of time. He is after our heart. It was then that I realized that I don't claim promises, promises claim me.

God's promises do not fail, but human understanding of God’s timescale often does.The promises never fail, though seeming delay may cause us to l doubt. "“For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.”
(2 Corinthians 1:20)

After Mike's message, I returned to my room, telling God (and Iris) that I was going to continue to believe God for Latvia whether I ever heard something from there or not. That very evening, I turned on my laptop to find a Facebook friend request from someone in Latvia. That has led to more requests and more connections. Today, the Navs again have a full time missionary in that country and several from our time there have reproduced to the third generation. God didn't have to show me this, but He did. God's promises are meant to get me through the tough times, when hope seems lost. At that time, I must grip His promises and let them grip me.

What do you do with the year of Jubilee?

“But the field, when it is released in the jubilee, shall be a holy gift to the LORD, like a field that has been devoted. The priest shall be in possession of it.” (Leviticus 27:21 ESV)

““The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”” (Luke 4:18–19 ESV)


When Jesus quoted Isaiah 61 in the synagogue that day, He was proclaiming the year of jubilee. The year of jubilee would have been good news to the poor because they would have land returned to them that they had lost. It was a proclamation of liberty: “And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property and each of you shall return to his clan.” (Leviticus 25:10 ESV)

The year of the Lord's favor was the year of Jubilee. Kay Arthur says, "The Jubilee of Israel only lasted one year. After this, it was possible to begin to buy and sell property again. 'Buyer beware' had to be the motto of the day after the year of Jubilee was completed. If you were foolish enough to be taken the first time, you would probably be taken again. Then you would have to wait forty-nine more years for this celebration to come around again!"

But the Jubilee Jesus announced, "the acceptable year of the Lord," was different. Like the Jubilee of old, this event would be announced by the Day of Atonement, the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus. But, unlike the Jubilee of the Old Testament, this celebration would be eternal. Because of our faith in the Lord Jesus and the new birth, the Church has entered into a perpetual Jubilee. The only way you can fail to claim your original blessings is to be ignorant of your rights, refuse to accept what is legally yours, or be talked out of them by Satan.

Are you living in Jubilee? Bob Goff, in his excellent book, Love Does says this: "Love doesn’t try to be efficient; when it’s most extravagant, it’s least wasted”. Let's at least be as extravagant  in our love as God was when he laid out the Year of Jubilee.

God Sees our Incredible Potential

“The angel of the LORD appeared to him and said, “Mighty hero, the LORD is with you!”” (Judges 6:12 NLT)
“And I tell you, you are Peter [Greek, Petros—a large piece of rock], and on this rock [Greek, petra—a huge rock like Gibraltar] I will build My church, and the gates of Hades (the powers of the infernal region) shall not overpower it [or be strong to its detriment or hold out against it].” (Matthew 16:18 AMP)

When God calls a man; He looks at him not as he is, but as he can be. When the angel of the Lord greeted Gideon, he called him a mighty hero and pointed out that the Lord was with him. After Peter confessed Jesus as Lord, Jesus called him a rock and said that he would build his church on the rock. Jesus saw what Peter would become.


CS Lewis said, "Remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you may talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilization—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit— immortal horrors or everlasting splendors."

So, as I imitate Christ,  how can I keep that perspective? What helps you see the potential in the people that you meet?

Who is my neighbor? His name might be Trayvon or maybe George.

I had absolutely no desire to write anything about the Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman trial for a few reasons. First, this blog is about practical lessons from the life of Jesus and the thoughts come more from my personal reading of the scripture than from current events. Secondly, (Alert: I'm about to admit something I'm not proud of), I was a bit scared to touch this topic since I have friends that seem to have strong opinions on both sides of the issue and I want everyone to think well of me. Finally, I believe that the way the media has handled this story has been shameful and I did not want to jump on the bandwagon. So, I was not planning to write anything about the death of Trayvon Martin, the trial and acquittal of George Zimmerman, the injustice (or justice) of it all or anything like that.

Then I got the text. The text came from my literal neighbor. She lives next door and happens to be a person of color. This is what she texted me: This Trayvon case made me think of you....and the humane way in which you handled the suspect! Thank you Al for being an agent of peace, for demonstrating God's love everyday...in everything you do! I was deeply moved by this text which came out of the blue on a Sunday morning. Later, she posted to Facebook: In my neighborhood (Seattle) a few years ago, there was a series of burglaries.....one of my neighbors saw the suspect walking down the street with the laptop case he stole from my neighbor's house just minutes before. My neighbor, who was in his car, took photos of the suspect and handed it over to the police, who then found the suspect and was able to prosecute him. My neighbor is a white man. The suspect is a young black boy. No one died.

My neighbor is definitely a "person of peace".  The text and the Facebook post spurred me to re-read the story that Jesus told in answer to a person who wished to justify himself. That person asked Jesus, "Who is my neighbor?"

Jesus told the story of a man beaten, robbed and left to die who was passed over by two of his own countrymen and was helped by a Samaritan - a member of an ethnic group disdained by the Jewish people. As I read this familiar story, I was struck by what a story of race it is. Jesus makes it clear that the victim was Jewish and that the people who did not help him were also Jewish and religious. He also makes a point to clearly mention the ethnicity of the one who showed mercy, ““But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion”. (Luke 10:33)

Which side are you on in the verdict of not guilty? Was justice served or mocked? A seventeen year old, probably not unlike the teenager who robbed the homes in our neighborhood, is dead. The man who pulled the trigger will have to live with this for the rest of his life. Is it possible for those of us who follow Christ to  at least  feel the compassion that the Samaritan did when he encountered the victim on the side of the road?

Allow me to take the risk of making my friends on both sides of this verdict unhappy by expressing two opinions. First opinion: the presumption of innocence makes it pretty difficult to find George Zimmerman guilty of murder or manslaughter in this case. No one really knows what happened when the two began to wrestle on the ground. Second opinion: Had the story played out in the exact same way, but Trayvon was the person who had a gun and used it that night, I question whether he would have been found "not guilty".

I read several posts on Facebook by friends who are seeking to follow Jesus. They ranged from, "the right verdict was reached, this was never about race" to "who is going to join me tonight at the rally to protest this injustice?". People are taking sides. My friends whose skin color is a darker shade than mine  believe a great injustice was done, so do those who (though white) live and serve in the inner city. My white, evangelical friends (with a couple of exceptions) think that the right verdict was reached.

One friend posted the following statement in which I'm in wholehearted agreement:
We get nowhere so long as we continue to play into a culture of fear, division, and "other." What am I doing to advocate for equality, harmony, love, reconciliation, education, compassion, and understanding? Are the principles and qualities that I integrate into my actions and conversations and thought patterns further stirring up a culture of fear and division, or am I walking in the opposite spirit? What would it look like if we chose radical love and compassion over gut reactions and suspicion?

So why do I look at issues of race and ethnicity? Because Jesus did. You can read about it in Luke 10.