Today I got up at 5 am and started reading a book, to prepare for a meeting that I have been graced to be a part of, with 5 other local pastors.  I was so blessed to just sit with these men and hear their stories.  I am really, really excited about the journey that I am going to be going on with these guys over the next 7 months, as we challenge each other doctrinally, practically, and relationally.  I cannot share the name of the book that I started to read this morning, because it is a postscript to an unreleased book, but I will share something that just hit me:

Finally, C. John Miller speaks of a frontline prayer as opposed to maintenance prayer.  Maintenance prayer is designed simply to maintain the existing life of the church. A frontline prayer meeting longs for God to act in life changing ways, believes he can, and so confidently expects change praying fervently for his mighty work.

There were so many things that the author said in this book about prayer, but this just jumped out at me.  How much of my prayer life is just “maintenance prayer”?  Is my heart for change?  I was thinking that it takes so much more prayer to be on the frontlines of battle, than it does when you are maintaining.  I can tell you this:  my prayer life, for the most part, does not have the longing, expectancy belief in God that would reflect frontline battle.

I want to be on the frontlines!  I want to see God’s mighty work!  I want to pray because I know that He is the only one who can send me, empower me, and enable me to do anything that would glorify Him.

Questions to meditate on…

(1) What does my prayer life look like? A man on the frontlines or a man who is comfortable?

(2) What do I long for the most? Is that longing for God?

(3) Do I believe God hears me and is able to do what I ask in prayer?

I think people are using Halloween to wear what they wear in the bedroom out in public.  If I would have known I would have pulled out my cop outfit.   (OK, calm down before you get mad I am joking about the cop out fit.)

I guess one of my pastor friends felt the same way.  Pastor Justin Anderson at Praxis Church wrote a article on his blog that is getting hundreds of hits and comments.  I posted it below but you can also go to his blog and see all the crazy comments he is getting.  As far as I am concerned, “I fully agree with Justin.” (You can quote me on that.)

This was the first Halloween in my life that I didn’t dress up. I figured at 30, the time had come. We dressed up my daughter and her friends as fairies and took plenty of pictures and handed out our fair share of candy, but this Halloween was a different one for me. A couple years ago I went to Mill Avenue with some friends on Halloween and someone made the observation that costumes had changed over the years from scary to funny to sexy. He was right, I remember a few years ago trying to figure out what would be the funniest costume that I could come up with, and for guys, this is still pretty true. But something has changed for the girls.

Somebody, I don’t know who, decided that girls shouldn’t dress up as witches anymore, they should be sexy witches. No more cats, we need sexy cats! French maids have even gotten sexier over the years. How did this happen? How did Halloween become little more than a excuse for the ladies to dress slutty? I write this fully aware of the fact that I am going to sound like the old guy longing for the good ‘ol days but that really isn’t true.

I am writing this blog as a father first and a pastor second. My daughter is still years away from dealing with Halloween on her own and all the pressures that come with it. I will be able to protect her from this cultural transition for a few more years, but I wonder how much more it will have changed 20 years from now. I hope that I can love her and teach her that as a follower of Jesus we do things differently than the world does. We do celebration different, we think of our bodies different and we do Halloween different.

Facebook has become an interesting tool for Pastors all over the world. Every day I get status updates from hundreds of the people in my church, telling me what they are excited about, struggling with and how they are spending their time. This can be a great way to stay connected with my flock as it grows and changes. It can also lead to the disappointment I experienced today. Picture after picture came up on my feed today, chronicling all of the Halloween hijinx that took place over the weekend. Unfortunately, what I saw is that many of the Christians in our church dressed no differently than the folks I saw years before on Mill.

I know what you are thinking, “ease up Pastor, its all in good fun. Nobody got hurt, Christians are allowed to have a good time!” Here’s the thing, I’m sure that’s true. Many of the people that I saw on my Facebook feed today are solid, Godly Christians whom I trust and love. I don’t think for a minute that most of those young ladies dressed up with the intention of causing the young men they would meet that night to sin. I don’t think that they dressed up hoping that they would attract young men sexually. I don’t think they were thinking that they would put aside their Christian convictions for a night of fun. In fact, I don’t think they were thinking much at all. And I guess that’s what disappoints me.

In 1 Corinthians 10:31 Paul tells us, “whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” Followers of Jesus are called to frame all of our lives in view of Christ. No matter what we do, even trivial things like eating and drinking, should be done intentionally and done in a way that reflects the truth of the Gospel.

Paul goes even a step further in Philippians 4:8 when he says, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Not only should we be intentional about our lives but also our thoughts. This comprehensive view of discipleship is a challenge to us to never blow things off as unimportant or see opportunities to set aside the Gospel. Instead, Paul implores us to see all things as opportunities to reflect the glory of Christ.

I hate being the guy that points out the negative when everyone else is having fun. It was just really disappointing to see so many of the people that I love, respect, pray for and pastor embrace Halloween as a day to dress and act like everyone else in the world, instead of taking the opportunity to make a statement about the different way we see the world. Next year, use October 31st as an occasion to preach the Gospel, not with a bull horn on a street corner, but by embodying things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent and worthy of praise. I’m not sure how that guides your costume decision but I hope that you will allow that decision to be guided by the glory of the Gospel.