I'm walking to DC

Brothers,

I'm taking a day tomorrow to be quiet--from 8:00 AM until around 6:30 PM, I'm going to be walking and praying. My plan is to pray over about 25 things that have been on my heart, both for personal concerns, community/ church concerns, and ultimately for our nation and world. I'm walking from my small group morning-time into DC--about 3 miles-- then going to see where the Spirit leads from there. Please lift me up in this time, that the Spirit would lead and draw out some heart-things of great importance, as He sees fit.

I love you dearly, brothers!

Ryan

Violent obedience.

Recently, it's been quite easy to slip into "do" mode: going from one endeavor to the next in an effort to accomplish goals--work at The EDGE, class, tutoring, caring for Lauren, family, friends, study, baseball (I'm playing on a baseball team!), ect. Of themselves, each of these is important and good for me.

However, I feel like everything can kind of get caught up in this vague sense of duty, an attitude that's finally selfish in nature, even if it strives for servant-heartedness. I recognize the need to fight against that and care for "endeavors" with a true servant-attitude that reflects my heart for Christ:

"Do nothing out of rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant tahn yourselves. Let each of you look not only to your own interestes, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men." (Philippians 2:3-7)

Ultimately, this cannot mean that I am to "shrink back" into myself and simply pour through the motions seen as "service," thusly fulfilling my position as one who lives humbly. I really believe that humility must mean that I must live more violently; that is, forcefully and purposefully submitting my functions and the facultities of those functions--relationships to others (v. 3-4), mind (v. 5), and body (v. 8)-- to God.

"And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." (Philippians 2:8)

Father, may my brothers and I live with such violent obedience!

Chambers gets it again

The Lord wants us, not our usefulness.

"Our tendency today is to put the emphasis on service. Beware of the people who make their request for help on the basis of someone’s usefulness. If you make usefulness the test, then Jesus Christ was the greatest failure who ever lived. For the saint, direction and guidance come from God Himself, not some measure of that saint’s usefulness. It is the work that God does through us that counts, not what we do for Him. All that our Lord gives His attention to in a person’s life is that person’s relationship with God— something of great value to His Father. Jesus is “bringing many sons to glory . . .” (Hebrews 2:10)."

Have a great day men.

Drive In Jesus, ASK and SEEK

I jog in the evenings.

When the night is sultry and at its peak, just before the sun relents to the beckoning of the moon's inevitable draw, I jog.

There's much purpose in jogging. Yes, I appreciate the physical benefits. But, to the glory of God, I see the Spirit at work in these times unlike any other.

Last night, I jogged; it was warm, maybe 75, and I sweat. I ran 3 miles, then stopped in a small park and did some sit-ups, pull-ups, and jumping exercises. Then, I walked for a while and just asked the Spirit to move; asked the Spirit to speak.

Coming off Mike's wedding weekend--Michael and Jodie for president!-- I was prepping for my first day of my new job in Manassas, VA. I also haven't seen my girlfriend in 10 weeks, a circumstance that I really have struggled through, probably more tahn I've been letting on. I also just feel confind by the season of life sometimes, by the question that pulls at the heart and mind of every man at different points: am I really living out my purposes? An important question, yes; but one that a man needs to resolve in order to...well, live out his purpose.

Purpose: I walked, wrestling with my heart toward Lauren, toward life, toward myself, my family, my friends...wrestling for peace there. God, display your glory admist struggle; triumph over sin; redeem the day; let your kingdom come; let us see you as we...

I hesitated in mid-prayer as the Ford F-150 drove by me with a burst that thrust me back into my present circumstances. The truck was impressive, yes; it wasn't teh truck itself that really awed me, though--it was his license plate:

IN JESUS

No two words could have elicited better praise as my grin peaked open and my lips whispered the finish to my prayer, "Let us see you as we drive In Jesus."

Delicious Spirit-leadings dripped from my spiritual palate as I walked on, rejoicing in God's sovereignty to literally form my prayers in my environment around me. I prayed for the community I was in, for the people and families I was passing, for the guys across the street who were black.

Why do they have to be black? I thought. Can't they just be people. I felt ashamed and hurt by my thought and frustrated with that, which gave room for frustration with feeling frustration about not hearing from Lauren for several weeks, which gave rise to frustrations about my own heart-- when will it settle, be at peace, even now in this evening of great praise, I don't know what to do just to find...

A dark-blue Toyota two-door sudan rolled by almost silently, at least compared to the truck from earlier, but two bright lights dimly illuminated a tiny license plate hanging from its back bumper:

ASK SEEK

I stopped. I smiled the coy, ironic smile of a young man wholly-contented, whose father provides even before his asking.

Then, I jogged.

prayer

something to be aware of and talk to the Father about
http://www.cnbc.com/id/44073673

Some really cool news.

Excerpt from Tripp and Allie Usry's blog:

Can May get anymore exciting?
Yes, it can. You might've noticed that Tripp has been the primary blogger of our family lately. Part of it is because he has had some really exciting changes in his life. But the real reason I've been avoiding blogging is that until I could announce that I'm pregnant nothing else seemed important to say.

ETA 12/10/11

So here's our newest Usry addition. At the time of the ultrasound, I was 10 weeks, 3 days along and Baby measured just over an inch and a half long, moving around and looking very healthy. Now, we're at 12 weeks and Baby is the size of a lime.

We can't wait for our little Texas baby!

Brother

This is a link to Luke's address at his company's departure. http://gallery.me.com/lmacfarlan/100134/ref.mov

Ever forward men.

dont look back

"Suppose someone asked me, when I see a man in blue uniform going down the street leaving little paper packets at each house, why I suppose that they contain letters? I should reply, ‘Because when ever he leaves a similar little packet for me I find it does contain a letter.’ And if he then objected—’But you’ve never seen all these letters which you think the other people are getting,’ I should say, ‘Of course not, and I shouldn’t expect to, because they’re not addressed to me. I’m explaining the packets I’m not allowed to open by the ones I am allowed to open.’ It is the same about this question. The only packet I am allowed to open is Man. When I do, especially when I open that particular man called Myself, I find that I do not exist on my own, that I am under a law; that somebody or something wants me to behave in a certain way. I do not, of course, think that if I could get inside a stone or a tree I should find exactly the same thing, just as I do not think all the other people in the street get the same letters as I do. I should expect, for instance, to find that the stone had to obey the law of gravity—that whereas the sender of the letters merely tells me to obey the law of my human nature, he compels the stone to obey the laws of its stony nature. But I should expect to find that there was, so to speak, a sender of letters in both cases, a Power behind the facts, a Director, a Guide."

If I examine my "mail" I see plenty of doubts, fears, and trust issues. Beating myself up... So I want to encourage your "packets." Continue to seek Jesus' Kingdom first. Continue to die to yourself. You're doing great.

Luke 9
62 Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

Purity and fruitfulness

I read an article entitled "The dangers of 'Fruitfulness' without Purity" today by a guy from Lausanne ministries named Michael Oh. It was really rich and encouraging, as purity remains a fierce battle in my life and the lives of many around me who are beginning to see fruits in female relationship, marriages, ministries, careers, and other endeavors.

"Winning or losing the heart battles over confession, repentance, and humility is the difference between those who end well and those who do not. Why hypocrisy often wins the day is, I believe, because leaders learn the possibility of being “fruitful” without being pure. . .The scary reality is that most of these seemingly blessed and fruitful ministries led by morally compromising leaders will never be brought to light on earth. Many lives are “successfully” lived and many ministries are “successfully” operated apart from a vital relationship with and properly desperate dependence upon Jesus Christ. This is the great scandal of Christian leadership; this is what leaders should fear."

I love you guys and look forward to seeing (some of) you this weekend!

enemy

The minute you think the enemy is not working against you in every way, he has completed a large part of his mission.


Rejoice in the Lord.

Desiring G. conference, Fall 2010

Think about it.

1 John 5

1 Jn. 5: Anybody interested in memorizing this over the next month? I am!

no man left behind

I was thinking about how the Big Man says "I will never forsake you..." to us. hold fast to Him. thats insanely cool.

5Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,
"Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you."
Hebrews 13.5

Ahole in one

Whoppas, it might have been a while since you have considered this, but in the fall of 2005, 5 young men lived in an apartment appropriately coined "A-hole". A few zealous members of that house created what became the A-hole-in-one country club. 18 holes of goodness. There were even explicit ideas for customized frisbees. (I still think this should happen). The reason I am writing is because I attempted to play the course tonight. My Biblestudy meets in B and because numbers were small, we decided to take our meeting to the links. It was awesome to remember long drives, holes in one, and create new memories w/ similar men sorting out life and living for Christ. Ephesians was our guidebook, specifically armor pieces of righteousness and the gospel, highlighting the life we live in Christ. Very powerful stuff. Remember youre a whoppahead. Remember that Jesus paid it all, you are righteous because of Jesus, and that the peace you have in him is your foundation. Stand firm. Actions and Truth brethren.

A request for Asking Intentionally

Gentlemen,

I want to invite you into my head a little bit (a dangerous prospect, I know, but one I'm sure you'll enjoy walking through with me):

I'm currently engaged in a discerning process about my life ahead. I was accepted to a school in Vancouver called Regent College (cheers and jeers abound). I talked with my parents this weekend: my mom said, "Oh...here's your little sister," which kind of just made me laugh because I guess she didn't really know how to say whatever else she was thinking, while my dad was very supportive of the idea of going out there. So, having spoken with my family, I appeal once more to my Family. I'm excited to work through my heart over the next several weeks. I'm asking you guys to be lifting me up during this time in several ways:

* Discerning decisions
* Being in the word often over the next several weeks. I'm learning right now that my perceptions of Judges is wrong and that there's great glory to behold there. Hopefully I'll keep learning this about all things until I'm dead.
* Holding close to my team here in China: Jon, Tim, Kerry, Bethany, Amelia, and Cameron. There's a lot of change happening within the context of our team, which is a beautiful thing, as all circumstances are being engineered by an Engineer of perfect judgment (Sorry, Josh... not you).
* Asking daily for the hearts and minds and bodies and Rest and turning away from the old and into the New for my students here. This is something that I'm taking great joy in.
* Praise for Spring: http://ryaninbaoding.blogspot.com/2010/04/its-baoding-tianjin-spring.html
* Fantasy baseball is really fun. And Brian said that "my personal goal this season is to pay attention," something that is note-worthy, indeed.

I love you all a lot. Thanks for giving me your lives,
Ryan

Easter

Happy Easter Whoppaheads!! We are alive today because of the Lord! Live well brothers!

Kev

Global glory

I've been called of late to know what I want. Right now, I want the nations to know the glory of the Father. So, I've committed to lifting up the nations, one-by-one, starting a few weeks ago at Afghanistan and continuing daily until I get through to Zimbabwe sometime in 2011.

Each day, I'll be asking for a different nation and asking that He'd be known there, plus reading about the nation on the bbc news's country profile page. Think there's no pr. requests given specifically by nations? Reading the history of Algeria today made me yearn for the freedom of the people there from generational sin, injustice, war, poverty; before today, I couldn't have located Algeria on a map.

Ask for my heart in this pursuit, as it is time-consuming and rather exhausting. Ask that I'd do it and be joyful in it. Ask that my asking would be specific and not general, especially in asking for the leaders of the nations by name.

Praise the father that he moves us to ask for the nations!

Gut check

This list is a gut-check for more than just students:

http://fromthestudy.com/2008/05/14/how-to-waste-your-theological-education/

On starting the semmester and considering the future

Fellas,

I'm starting to teach a new semester tomorrow (3/8). I ask that you would each be lifting up my heart, as I desire to be all in what I'm doing here. Ask for my team and I to be able to focus well and not drift off mentally to what will be in another station of our lives.

I told my supervisor, Newt Hetrick, that I'll be pursuing grad school for next year instead of coming back here for a third trip on this merry-go-round in China. I'm excited, but still somewhat uneasy about this decision. Please ask for patience and a heart to pursue these conflicting passions well, even as planning for the one might take time and focus from the other. Ask for a multiplication of blessings on this season as we continue to mutually pursue the King.

I love you each dearly,
Ryan

if we were on our porch right now...

having some alone time tonight boys. started reading ol bettwys book. thanks for being yourselves my friends. I miss our closeness but as bettwy so innocently writes in his book: he prays that we go on to do great things and be great men. and I beleivve that is happening now, amidst our best efforts to screw it up! haha. I cant help but have a bitter feeling in my heart when looking back on our great times together. I wish that I enjoyed it more in the moment. I wish I appreciated it more then. I wish I was content and loved life, those around me, and the God of the universe more while in blacksburg. Maybe that is an inevitable thought that comes with age. but I dont want it to be. I pray that God works in our lives so that we ARE joyful even when we think things are going wrong. the thing is Jeremiah says he has plans for us to prosper and the big man upstairs has made it clear over and over that we are not going to screw those plans up. let us all pray for this for eachother and I ask it for myself too because I feel I really struggle with this. not feel... know... I admire bettwy for his ability in this arena. yet he tells me he admires my ambition... oh how we all fit together. coincidence? psh.... guys lets stay true to our King, our general. I say this as a reminder to myself as much as to all of us, but we have to avoid the thought that money will make things ok. let us live simply and enjoy the blessings that we are freaking drenched in. we are free. we are still in blacksburg! this earth is the burg. God help us to love you and life NOW. in your sons name.

seek the kingdom first and all these things will be granted to you.

there is nothing better for a man than to love his family, eat his food, love his toil, and praise God. For that is his lot.