What to do...

While I'm feeling slightly better, it seems as soon as I have any energy, something comes up to take all that extra energy. It feels like a losing battle.

In the midst of this, something has come up that would be an amazing opportunity for this summer. I know I should be excited and jump at it. However, it's hard to be excited when I don't know where I'm going to get the energy to get through the day. Is it a matter of faith that I will be healthy by the summer?

There's also the issue of money. Not exactly sure where the money to do this will come from, but I guess it's a matter of taking the leap knowing that the details will work out.

The Reality of 24/7

This afternoon a bunch of friends and I went to take part in a local week of 24/7 prayer.

Now, I've read Red Moon Rising and done 24/7 as part of a week in Liverpool, England, so 24/7 isn't new for me. I went on the 24/7 site and found that a local group was doing it and decided it was important to give it a try on American soil and also to support them.

Walking into the room it was nothing special - it was pretty spare. An old couch, a chair, a bench and a table with a CD player. A sheet of newsprint on the wall and a map of the world on another. No special formula and thankfully no scented candles.

Yet somehow there was something special in that room. No distractions. Nothing else happening. Nothing else to focus on. We spent 2 1/2 hours in that room spending time alone and then praying as a group. Pretty amazing.

It was exciting to see that happening in a non-descript building in the middle of a non-descript town. Equally exciting to me was that it was a Salvation Army activity. The Salvation Army that I grew up with didn't do 24/7 prayer. I'm glad to see I was wrong.

While the setting was underwhelming, it was good to see 24/7 starting to come to life in the real world. No bells and whistles.

A very cool way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Quote of the Day

I'm reading a really great book called "Awakening Cry" by Pete Greig (yes, it's the same guy who wrote Red Moon Rising). This book was written before the start of the 24/7 prayer movement and the subtitle pretty much explains it "Once again God is commissioning reivivalists, reformers and rebels for the ultimate cause". It goes through the history of past revivals (including many in New England, which was cool to read) and talks about what needs to be in place for revival. I wouldn't recommend this book to everyone - I think you have to be in the right place to read it.

I was reading the chapter on Radical Holiness and was really challenged by the high standard that we're called to. He talked about experiences of others in this area, his own experiences and the example of Jesus. Out of that comes this fantastic quote:

Holiness, it should be noted, is rarely synonymous with respectability.

Think about that for a few minutes...... What we think of as holy is often not all that holy. Radical holiness may be a call outside what is "church acceptable".

This cuts particularly close to home after the study I did from May to November on the Sermon on the Mount. All that looks holy isn't.

What do you think about the quote? Does it push you? Make you mad? Make you nod in agreement?

Ramping up the Crazy

So, I thought yesterday was the end of the crazy. A couple of new things within the last 24 hours.

I'm definitely going to OneThing. Changed my Christmas plane ticket last night. No going back now. I'm excited about this as a step of faith.

I'm going to be photographing OneThing. I'm pretty excited about this too.

I signed up to be a correspondent for the 24/7 prayer team. Don't know what all this will entail, but it looks like getting assignments, talking with people and writing up stories and testimonies of what God's doing around the world through 24/7 prayer. How hard can that be??

I talked with my church leadership about my plan for an AIDS in Africa project after Christmas, so the wheels are turning there.

2006 has been a year of so much growth and change. Looks like things aren't going to slow down for the holiday season.

Please pray for me. All this is exciting and overwhelming. I need to stop trying to understand how I will get all this done or if I've got the skills to do all of this and just rest on the fact that I'm not doing any of it - God is. I'm just the messenger.