JANUARY 2006
GATHERING REMINDER
It is not too late to register for the January
Gathering of People Who Pray. This will be
a great opportunity to dedicate 2006 to
spiritual transformation by coming together
as the Body of Christ to worship God, repent
of our sins, thank Him for our blessings and
pray for His perfect will to be done in SW
Missouri, central Missouri and the entire
State, NW Arkansas and the
entire Heartland. We will
have a facilitator from
Little Rock, and our own
Pastor Howard Boyd will
co-facilitate the time
together. The time is Friday
evening, January 27, from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m.,
and Saturday, January 28 from 9:00 a. m. to
3:00 p.m. A lunch will be provided Saturday
at no cost. The place is the top of the Grand
Plaza Hotel, down from the former Bobby
Vinton Theater and across from Tanger
Mall. Please call 338-8036 and leave a
message, or call me on my cell at 331-1028.
THE UP TEAM AND 2006
When I lived in Chicago during the late 60’s
through the early 80’s, one of my hobbies
was to follow – painfully – the Chicago Cubs.
It was the era of Ernie Banks, the great
shortstop who is now in the Hall of Fame.
Each year, with his infectious optimism, he
proclaimed victory for the Cubbies with a
slogan based on the year. For example, “The
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Cubs will thrive in ’75!” Well, consider this
for the UP Team: “More intercessors than
ticks in 2006!” OK, maybe not. Try this:
Give Satan his licks in 2006!” Still not there,
huh? Let’s settle on this one: “Prayer: Our
communities’ fix in 2006!” There are many
things we can do to strengthen and grow the
Team. Consider the following:
1) Recommit to your hour, ensuring
that it is one of the very most important
hours of each week.
2) Take on at least one more hour.
(We have quite a few people who have
multiple hours.)
3) Make a personal commitment to
recruit at least one more member this year.
(That would double the hours of prayer.)
4) Talk to your pastor and try to
open doors of opportunity for his/her
congregation to hear about prayer, spiritual
transformation and the role of the UP Team.
5) Encourage other prayer groups to
join forces with our
prayer group, by
agreeing to regularly
pray for one another.
6)
Encourage people
you know who live in
other areas of our nation to begin an
Uninterrupted Prayer Team. (What a
powerful way to impact one’s area! We will
help them do this.)
7) Encourage married couples to
take an hour together. (This will strengthen
the relationship as well as benefit the area.
We have quite a few couples who do this.)
8) Also, we can be flexible: If people
want to take a half-hour at first, fine; if they
want to split their hour into two time
segments, fine; if they want to commit to an
hour but at an undesignated time, at least
for awhile, fine; if people do not feel led to
take an hour but want to pray for the UP
Team and its objectives, we can put them on
the “No Sector” group (about 60 such
people).
9) Keep before you the vision of
having 24/7 prayer for the area: Unending
prayer ascending like incense before the
throne of God, joining with the prayer of the
Great High Priest, Jesus. We are close to the
goal, as we have about 17 open hours. But
because of multiple intercessors for various
hours, we have more than 255 hours of
prayer each week. I believe that this is
pleasing to God and is bearing fruit and will
bear much more fruit. Share the vision with
others; intercessors will grasp it quickly, and
even if they do not join the UP Team, we can
join spiritual forces. In 2006 the UP Team
will celebrate its 4th anniversary, on the
National Day of Prayer. God has been very
faithful and gracious and encouraging. He
looks much more at hearts than He does at
numbers; but He also wants 24/7 prayer,
because He has chosen to move through the
prayers of the Body of Christ.
10) Some people are hesitant to join
the UP Team for one of two reasons: 1)
They are fearful that they will not be able to
keep their commitment of the same hour on
the same day every week. I suspect some of
us get concerned about that, too. Again,
God looks at the heart. The commitment is
important, to be sure, but if we miss an hour,
we can make it up at another time, and God
understands. When we get to the point of
having every slot filled, we will then also
look at the concept of having “substitutes”.
2) They are fearful that they will not be able
to pray for an entire hour. I believe that
every one of us will say that, yes, at times it
can be difficult, but that the perseverance is
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highly pleasing to God. I believe that we can
also say that at times the hour flies by, for
there is so much that can fill it. Our witness
to others about our own spiritual growth
through the commitment is a powerful way
to encourage others to join.
REFLECTION
In Luke’s Gospel, toward the beginning of
Jesus’ ministry, not long after the
temptation in the desert, Jesus returned to
Nazareth and went to the local synagogue
for a service on the Sabbath. Word about
Him had already spread and His hometown
was buzzing with excitement. So, He
certainly had their attention when He stood
up and received a scroll to read. It was from
the prophet Isaiah. This is what Jesus read
and said: “’The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me to preach good
news to the poor. He has sent me to
proclaim freedom for the prisoners and
recovery of sight for the blind, to release the
oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s
favor.’ Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it
back to the attendant and sat down. The
eyes of everyone in the synagogue were
fastened on him, and he began by saying to
them, ‘Today this scripture is fulfilled in
your hearing.’” At first He was well
received. But after telling them that
prophets had never been well received in
their own town, the townspeople turned on
Him and tried to kill Him – but His time had
not yet come, and He walked away. OK, so
what is the
importance of this
for us? Please, dear
brothers and sisters,
take a moment to
seek the guidance
of the Holy Spirit and have open minds and
hearts. The words of the prophet Isaiah
were Messianic in nature; they were pointing
to the coming of the Redeemer, and Jesus
told them that the prophecy was fulfilled in
Him. But the Word of God is alive, not just
historical; so, there is deep meaning and
application for us. I believe that the
application is this: Jesus has died, has risen
from the dead and has ascended back into
heaven, where He is the Great High Priest,
mediating for us. And we? We are His
Body on earth, the Body through which He
walks among the people
of the world. This is
God’s plan, to reach
the world
through the
dedicated
followers of
Jesus.
Therefore, the
words of the
prophet Isaiah
also apply to the Body as a whole, and thus
to every member of the Body. It is an
awesome fact that we, each and every one of
us, can say: “The Spirit of the Lord is on
me, because He has anointed me to preach
good news to the poor. He has sent me to
proclaim freedom for the prisoners and
recovery of sight for the blind, to release the
oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s
favor.” Yes, that’s right; this is the calling of
each of us. We are temples of the Holy
Spirit; the Holy Spirit lives within us and
wants to guide us, every moment of every
day. We have His anointing upon us and
within us. Satan tries so very hard to
convince us that we are useless, just little
cogs in a big wheel, for Satan knows the
power that is
unleashed when we
trust God, yield to
Him and obey Him.
We are living powder
kegs, brothers and
sisters, and the Holy
Spirit wants to ignite
us. But, what does that mean in practical
terms? Well, it is beyond our scope here to
go into great detail. Suffice it to say that
God has a plan for each of us, different
based on our background, our callings, our
circumstances. But I know that there is one
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way that we live out this prophecy, all of us.
It is through prayer. Just as God moves us
at times to reach out to other people and
share God’s love, so God moves us to reach
out regularly to other people through
prayer. I am so deeply convinced that the
UP Team is part of God’s plan for the
transformation of this area; and that means
that every member of the UP Team is
critically important. When we are faithful in
prayer, during our hour and by making all
of life a prayer, we are living out a special
anointing: We are instruments for the
freedom of souls imprisoned by sin; we are
instruments for people who are spiritually
blind to see the light of salvation; we are
instruments for the deliverance of people
from oppression – spiritual, physical,
financial. You see, “the year of the Lord’s
favor” is right now. He is withholding
judgment on our nation, but surely time is
short. Our prayer is that Jesus be King of
Kings and
Lord of
Lords here
– in Stone
and Taney
Counties,
in Polk and Cedar Counties, in Northwest
Arkansas, in Colorado – and that these areas
be a place of refuge, a place of enlightenment
and that from visiting here people will take
God’s grace and love throughout the nation.
It is not just words: “The Spirit of the Lord
is upon us.” But God will not force us; we
always have a choice.
ON THE LIGHTER SIDE
For those of us who (I can speak for myself)
seem to frequently put our foot in our
mouth, let these true incidents give us hope!
While looking at a house, a man asked the
real estate agent which direction north was,
because he didn’t want the sun waking him
up every morning. The agent replied, “Does
the sun rise in the north?”…A lady used to
work in technical support for a 24/7 call
center. One day she got a call from a person
who asked what hours the call center was
open. She told him, “The number you dialed
is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.” He
responded, “Is that Eastern or Pacific
time?”…One person keeps a lifesaving tool
in her car. It’s designed to cut through a
seat belt if she gets trapped. She keeps it in
the trunk…Some friends were on a beer run
and noticed that the cases were discounted
10%. They bought two cases, and the
cashier multiplied 10% X 2 and gave them a
20% discount…A lady couldn’t find her
luggage at the airport baggage area, so she
went to the lost luggage
office and told the man
there that her bags
never showed up. He
smiled and told her not to
worry, because he was a
trained professional and she
was in good hands. He then asked,
“Now, has your plane arrived yet?”.
MORE ON THE LIGHTER SIDE
Since a new year has begun, here is a little
secret for building arm and shoulder
muscles: Begin by standing straight, with a
5-lb. potato sack in each hand. Extend your
arms straight out from your
sides and hold them there
as long as you can – try to
reach a full minute. After a
few weeks, move up to 10-lb.
potato sacks, and then 50-lb.
potato sacks, and eventually
try to get to where you can lift a 100-lb.
potato sack in each hand and hold your
arms straight out for more than a full
minute. After you feel comfortable at that
level, start putting a couple of potatoes in the
bag…Since diets are also frequently part of
a new year, you might enjoy the following
story of faith: “After starting a new diet, I
altered my drive to work to avoid passing
my favorite bakery. I accidentally drove by
the bakery this morning, and I saw a host of
goodies in the window. I prayed, ‘Lord, it’s
up to You; if You want me to have any of
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those delicious goodies, create a
parking place for me directly in
front of the bakery.’ And,
sure enough, He answered
my prayer! There it was –
on only the eighth time
around the block! God is so good!”…
Finally, to help create a new commitment to
risk-taking in 2006, consider doing some of
the following, depending on your
circumstances: Run one lap around the
office at top speed…Phone someone you
barely know, leave your name and the
following message: “Just called to say I
can’t talk right now. Bye.’…To signal the
end of a conversation, clamp your hands
over your ears and say “Nah, nah, nah,
nah.”…While riding in an elevator, gasp
dramatically every time the doors open…At
lunchtime, get down on your knees and
announce, “God, thank you for not letting
me go hungry!”…Sit in our parked car with
sunglasses on and point a hair dryer at
passing cars, and see if they slow down…
Every time someone asks you to do
something, ask if they want fries with that…
Finish all your sentences with, “In
accordance with the prophecy.”…Specify
that your drive-through order is “to go”…As
often as possible, skip rather than walk…
When the money comes out of the ATM
machine, scream, “I
won! I won! Third
time this week!…
When leaving the zoo,
start running towards
the parking lot, yelling “Run for
your lives! They’re loose!”…Babble
incoherently at someone and then ask, “Did
you get all of that? I don’t want to have to
repeat it!”
A STORY, TO GIVE US HOPE IN
TROUBLED TIMES
“I try not to be biased, but I had my doubts
about hiring Stevie. His placement
counselor assured me that he would be a
good, reliable busboy. But I had never hired
a mentally challenged employee and I wasn’t
sure I wanted one. I wasn’t sure how my
customers would react to Stevie. He was
short, a little dumpy, with the smooth facial
features and thick-tongued speech of a
person with Downs Syndrome. I wasn’t
worried about most of my
regular trucker
customers, because
truckers don’t generally
care who buses tables as
long as the meatloaf platter is good and the
pies are homemade. No, it wasn’t the 18-
wheeler drivers I was concerned about; it
was some of the 4-wheelers – some mouthy
kids traveling to school, yuppie snobs who
secretly polish their silverware with their
napkins for fear of catching some dreaded
‘truck stop germ,’ the pairs of white-shirted
businessmen on expense accounts who think
every truck stop waitress wants to be flirted
with. I knew that those people would be
uncomfortable around Stevie, so I watched
him closely for the first few weeks. I
shouldn’t have worried. After the first
week, Stevie had my staff wrapped around
his stubby little finger, and after a month
most of my customers had adopted Stevie.
He was eager to laugh and eager to please
and fierce in his attention to his duties. He
would hover in the background, shifting his
weight from foot to foot, scanning the dining
room until a table was empty. Then he
would scurry to the empty
table and carefully bus
dishes and glasses onto
his cart and
meticulously wipe
the table up with a
practiced flourish
of his rag. He took pride in doing his job
exactly right and he tried hard to please each
and every person he met. Over time, we
learned that Stevie lived with his mother, a
widow who was disabled after repeated
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cancer surgeries. They lived on Social
Security benefits in public housing two miles
from the truck stop. Their social worker,
who stopped in to check on him every so
often, admitted that they had fallen between
the cracks. Money was tight, and what I
paid him was probably the difference
between them being able to live together and
Stevie being sent to a group home. That’s
why the restaurant was a gloomy place that
morning last August, the first morning in
three years that Stevie missed work. He was
at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester getting a
new valve put in his heart. His social worker
said that people with Downs Syndrome often
have heart problems at an early age, so this
wasn’t unexpected. There
was a good chance that he
would be back at work in a
few months. When we
heard that he was out of
surgery and was doing
fine, Frannie, the head
waitress, let out a war whoop and did a little
dance in the aisle. But we were still worried,
because we did not know how Stevie and his
Mom were going to handle all the bills.
After the morning rush, Frannie walked into
my office. She had a couple of paper
napkins in her hand and a funny look on her
face. ‘What’s up?’ I asked. ‘These were
folded and tucked under a coffee cup.’ (The
waitresses had been doing the busing in
Stevie’s absence, as I had not hired a
replacement.) One $20 bill fell out of one
napkin and two $20 bill out of the other one.
Both had printed on them on the outside,
‘Something for Stevie.’ Then another
waitress came in with more napkins, each
with the writing, ‘Something for Stevie.”
Each had a $50 bill tucked inside. That was
three months ago. Finally, Stevie returned
to work. His placement counselor said he
had been counting the days. He called at
least ten times the week before he returned,
to be sure that he still had his job. I
arranged to have his mother drive him to
work. I met them in the parking lot and
invited them both in to celebrate his return
to work. Stevie was thinner and paler, but PRAYER MOBILIZATION
he couldn’t stop grinning as he pushed Pray for Michael and Kelly and their five
through the doors and headed for the back children; Kelly has cancer…Pray for Don
room where his apron and busing cart were Gabriel; his cancer has worsened and he has
waiting. ‘Hold up there, Stevie, not so fast,’ pneumonia…Pray for Fay, who lost her
I said. I took him and his mother by their husband before Christmas…Pray for
arms. ‘Work can wait for a minute. To Torchbearers and their ministry to
celebrate you coming back, breakfast for Cameroon…Pray for Asleep kNOw More
you and your mother is on me.’ I led them and its ministry to this nation…Pray for all
to a larger corner booth at the rear of the of the ministries in this area – Backstage
restaurant. I could feel and hear the rest of Ministries, The Caring People, Lives Under
the staff following behind as we marched Construction Boys Ranch, Teen Challenge of
through the dining room. Glancing over my the Ozarks, The Spirit of America Gospel
shoulder, I saw booth after booth of grinning Hour, Rock City Skate Park, CBMC, BMFI,
truckers empty as they joined the Reflection of Christ, Prayer-Works,
procession. We stopped in front of a big Concerned Women for America, Love INC,
table set up by their booth. Its surface was the SDC Foundation, Share It Forward, and
covered with coffee cups, saucers and dinner all of the many other ministries. Please pass
plates, all sitting slightly crooked on dozens on prayer requests and answers to prayer,
of folded paper napkins. ‘The first thing you and we will include them in the Newsletter.
have to do, Stevie, is clean up this mess.’ I
tried to sound stern. Stevie looked at me, God bless you and yours. Call me any time
then at his mother, then at the table. He saw at 338-8036 or 331-1028. Peace.
a napkin with “Something for Stevie”
written on it. He picked it up
and two $10 bills fell onto Bob Burton
the table. Stevie
stared at the money
and then at all the
napkins peeking from
beneath the tableware,
each with his name printed
or scrawled on it. I turned to
his mother. ‘There’s more than
$10,000 in cash and checks on
that table, all from truckers and trucking
companies that heard about your problems.’
Well, it got really noisy about that time, with
everybody hollering and shouting, and there
were a few tears as well. But, do you know
what’s funny? While everybody else was
busy shaking hands and hugging each other,
Stevie, with a big, big smile on his face, was
busy clearing all the cups and
dishes from the table. Best
worker I ever hired!”