A new kind of intercession

One of our pastor friends was sharing her frustration with law enforcement in her area - how they treat her, how they treat the people she advocates for. As she shared the pain in her heart, we began to pray.

Normally, we are advocating for the defendant, the criminal, the convict and ex-offender, the undocumented one - this is our calling, to stand with those who are harassed and helpless, who are oppressed by their own choices, by others, and oppressed by a system that is not for them. The good news is that God is for them. So we are often praying for them, for their cases and situations. When we pray, we bless those who oppose, we forgive those who have wronged.

This morning, we found ourselves not praying for our usual people but for those on the other side of the system. We repented of our judgments against them. We prayed for prosecuting attorneys whose very job is to agree with the accuser against another - we prayed that they would be set free from accusation. We prayed for particular attorneys and confessed that Jesus is the Friend of sinners and tax collectors (those in the system) and these were the tax collectors. We blessed them into Jesus' presence. We confessed that we had set ourselves against them on behalf of others, so instead advocated for them before our Father. We prayed for healing and refreshing, for true wisdom and discernment; to do justice and love mercy and walk humbly with our God.

It seemed like a breakthrough time.

Baptism Painting

This painting is on the wall of the landing on the way to the second floor of our building. It was painted by our friend, Troy Terpstra, finished in the summer of 2008. It stands 15 feet high and sitting on the stairs to take it in is a real joy. Sometimes we do a bible study just by talking through what we see in the painting. What do you see?

Troy's journey with this work began with work in the Skagit County Jail and gangs as he saw artwork coming out of the jail from Latino gangsters; one which depicted a Hispanic gangster Jesus on the cross. It got the creative wheels turning. The entire project took a year and a half and went through many forms before the final one.

Our primary places of ministry at Tierra Nueva are the jail and the migrant farmworker community. Our work in advocacy is standing along side those who are oppressed - by the choices of others and the systems, or by their own choices and how once you are on the wrong side of the system it is next to impossible to get out from under it.

One of the main themes we work with at Tierra Nueva is baptism - that in baptism, everything must die, everything must come under the water, all our allegiances other than our allegiance to God. We are to have no other gods before Him, to bow to no idols (the first two commandments) but we don't recognize our gods or idols (our allegiances) that need to come under the water. We need to be 'baptized' every day. What are the allegiances you see in the painting that are coming under the water?

When Jesus was baptized in the Jordan, what was the baptism for? We talk about His dying to all forms of identity apart from the one the Father speaks over Him - You are My Beloved Son; I AM delighted in You. Perhaps He died to national identity as an Israelite; to family identity as the son of Mary and Joseph; to His occupational identity as a carpenter. When Jesus goes out into the wilderness, it is His identity as the Beloved Son of the Father that is challenged each time by the devil. Later, in the gospel of John 14:30, Jesus will say, "The ruler of this world is coming, but he has nothing in Me."

In dying to worldly forms of identity, Jesus is able to stand in solidarity with the poor and the oppressed. Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He was come from God and was going back to God... Jesus was able to be the Advocate. When we are caught up in worldly forms of identity we feel we must advocate for ourselves against those who threaten our identity, but when we receive our identity as beloved daughters and sons of our heavenly Father who is delighted in us (before we do anything! Jesus hadn't done anything but be baptised), we are freed to be filled with the powerful Spirit of God (who is another Advocate) to partner with God on behalf of the poor, the broken, the widow and the orphan.

Ask the Holy Spirit to search you and know you and reveal to you allegiances and ways of creating identity for yourselves that need to come under the water of baptism again today.

Let a little child lead us

We want to stir up the expectation that when we gather we will encounter Jesus, the risen One, who is always with us and never leaves us. As we experience His presence, hearing His voice, watching the Holy Spirit work, we see that He will lead us out into the world to be a place where other people encounter Jesus through us.

As we have continued to meet with the kids in our Friday group, we have been reading Brad Jersak's Children, Can You Hear Me? inviting kids to picture Jesus in a favorite place. How does He greet you? What does He look like? What is the expression on His face? What does He say to you?

Later in the week, one of our community was meeting with a distressed friend. As their conversation progressed, they invited this friend to meet with Jesus and heard Jesus say words that touched them so deeply that they felt something dark leave them.

Just bringing people into the light of Jesus' presence... beautiful.

Becoming Like Children

Last night we met for our fourth time as a fledgling community in Bellingham. At one point after dinner we gathered together, eight adults and four kids. We asked the kids what they thought Jesus meant when He said we needed to become like little children in order to see the Kingdom.

Tamera, who is eight, said that adults forget what they knew when they were kids and don't have good imaginations.

We read some out of Brad Jersak's Children, Can You Hear Me?, a children's book on hearing and seeing Jesus with the eyes and ears of your heart. Kaedon, seven, said you have to be a kid on a swing to see God in the clouds. When asked how we were to do that, Tamera said we needed bigger swings.

We asked the kids to go around and pray for each of the adults that we could become more like children. It was really beautiful. Jesus was there.

Interview with the author of The Shack

I was recently interviewed "man on the street" style about The Shack for Cornwall Church in Bellingham where William Paul Young was going to speak. Below is the link to his interview. He speaks of his life growing up as a missionary kid who was physically and sexually abused and how that impacted him - it is a deeply moving story that informs his writing of a book to tell his children what he believes after 11 years of therapy.

www.vimeo.com/10847190

Freedom in the Jail

I've been meeting with Dean (not his name) in the Whatcom County Jail for several months now. When we first met and talked about Jesus, his language sounded like a Sunday school idea of God being out there somewhere and prayer being that thing you said before you went to bed, if you said it at all.

As we have talked and I've shared stories with him about the beautiful, radical, supernatural things Jesus is up to, Dean has been drawn in to a deeper engagement with Jesus. Today as we talked, I felt Jesus wanted to lift some burdens off of him. We read Matthew 11:28-30 -

Come to Me, all you who are weary and heavy burdened and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon yourself and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.

We talked about the things he was carrying and I asked him if he wanted to exchange his burdens for Jesus' burden. Sure. So we did a meeting place - if you could meet with Jesus anywhere, where would that be - imagine it. If Jesus were there, what would He look like? How would He greet you? And so on. We've done this before and Dean usually meets Jesus in the same place - in the woods.

As he did, I asked Jesus, "Jesus, if there is a place You'd like to meet Dean that is different that what he is imagining, will You take him there?" There was several minutes of silence and I asked Dean what was going on. He said it was the most incredible thing. When I had asked Jesus that question, the meeting place changed.

As he had been walking on a path in the woods, suddenly he was walking on clouds. He was carrying a backpack full of his burdens. As he unpacked it, he found it was full of glass spheres, each with a name of a burden. He handed each one over to Jesus and they disappeared. Then Jesus gave him a very large glass sphere with the word "sobriety" on it.

Dean was blown away as we talked about how he had encountered Jesus there in a 3x4 concrete room as we prayed over the visitor phones. I just love how Jesus loves him and makes Himself known. We prayed into the vision for Jesus' strength and presence to be with him as he receives the burden of sobriety.

A Word from the Lord

Last week at the Underground Coffee project (www.undergroundcoffeeproject.com) (our gathering for ex-offenders, gangsters, and addicts), Nicholas came up to me and said, "Check out what God is saying." He starts to read 2 Corinthians 8:10-12, but his bible is King James Version and when he finishes, I tell him, "Dude, I have no idea what you just read."

I open my bible and begin to read, And in this manner I give you my judgment: this benefits you, who a year ago started not only to do but also to desire it. So now finish doing it...

This is completely out of the context the Apostle Paul is writing about, but as I read it the Presence of God came into the basement so strongly that I had to stop reading and close my eyes and worship. God was highlighting a word for me. A year ago was when He told me to "plant a church." As I began to think about it then and desire it, even to start planning, I felt Him tell me, "No. Wait."

I moved to a chair and Nicholas is praying over me as I continue to read: ...so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have. For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what a person does not have.

Again, the Presence of God rushes in and I am compelled to stop and worship.

I have had worries about the endless possibilities of what it should look like and whether I can do this or that or the other thing, and feeling like I have to have it all figured out before we start. God was speaking directly into all of it. He says that the Word will be accompanied by signs to confirm it. He is so good!

Amen and amen.