Author Archives: KD Manes

Five Habits of Highly Missional People: Listen

Posted on by under God's Call

Taken from Michael Frost’s book, Surprise the World!, the third habit of highly missional people is to listen for the Holy Spirit’s voice.

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” ~ Matthew 5:14-16

For Christians, the Holy Spirit is our constant friend and endless supply of strength and guidance. Without Him, we are subject to get off course and falter in sin. We need to set apart time to stop talking, quiet our hearts, and ask Him to speak to us. This is no small task in the busy culture we live in, especially for the extroverts among us. But we need to listen to God’s voice, especially if we want to be instruments of His love and peace. Otherwise, how are we going to be salt and light if we are hurried and harried like so many around us?  

The Holy Spirit will never instruct against God’s Word. He often gives us understanding and/or a realization through His still small voice.

Bruce Demarest (Satisfy Your Soul) writes: A quieted heart is our best preparation for all this work of God. . . . Meditation refocuses us from ourselves and from the world so that we reflect on God’s Word, His nature, His abilities, and His works . . . . So we prayerfully ponder, muse, and “chew” the words of Scripture. . . . The goal is simply to permit the Holy Spirit to activate the life-giving Word of God.

So how are we to take this challenge of silence and solitude as a missional habit? Frost gives the following advice:

Set Aside a Designated Time

Start with one designated time block a week for 15-20 minutes. View it as a special time between you and God. Don’t count your designated time when you are on the run.

Eliminate Distractions

Find a place free from noise and interruptions. Avoid sensory distractions: touch, sights, sounds, smells, taste. The quieter your surroundings, the better one can listen to the Holy Spirit. Find a comfortable position in a chair and close your eyes. Allow the distractions in your mind to dissipate, which usually takes 15-20 minutes.

Let God In

Begin your time by simply enjoying God’s presence. Don’t ask questions (something I need to work on!), or tell the Holy Spirit what you need or want. He knows before we do. Don’t listen to the Enemy’s lies either, reminding you of your unworthiness and sins. Remember how much God loves you. I know this sounds cliché, but let his love wash over you. For He’s the One who created you in the first place. His Spirit longs to dwell in your heart, the temple He created for Himself. Try to focus your thoughts with a simple centering prayer: Abba, peace, grace, love or Jesus’ prayer from Luke 18:13: “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

Frost writes: Centering prayer is different from classic Eastern mediation, which is attempting to empty your mind by pushing thoughts away or by having no thoughts. Christian contemplative practices expert Phil Fox Rose says that when engaging in centering prayer, the key is to “resist no thought.” Most of us simply can’t stop thinking anyway. Our minds are constantly racing. If we make having no thoughts the goal, we’ll get discouraged. In centering prayer, we let thoughts happen, but we don’t engage them.”

Follow God’s Promptings

We need to be governed by the Spirit’s promptings. Frost writes: The Spirit might bring to your mind the name or face of a person you are to bless or eat with. He might convict you of sin or encourage you in your faithfulness. He might prompt you to reengage with someone you blessed last week. . . . If we allow the Spirit to guide us, we will be free to enjoy our appetites in a redeemed, godly fashion.

How do we know if the prompting is of the Holy Spirit? You will sense His presence in your heart. He will reward you with the fruit of love, joy, peace, etc.

Weekly Challenge

Adding to the previous challenges, here is our challenge for the week:

  1. Bless three people, at least one of whom is not a member of your church.
  2. Eat with three people, at least one of whom is not a member of your church.
  3. Listen – Spend at least one period of the week listening for the Spirit’s voice.

Five Habits of Highly Missional People: Eat Together

Posted on by under God's Call, Uncategorized

Last week, the focus of my post was on ways Christians can intentionally bless others. We can do this in three simple ways: 1) words of affirmation, 2) acts of kindness, and 3) giving a gift. Did you take the challenge of blessing three people during the week, one of whom is not a member of your church? If it slipped your mind, no worries, we have a new week coming up! Along with this challenge, I have added one more for you at the end of this post. I think you’re going to like it. 🙂

Highly Missional People Habit #2: Eat Together

Yes, you read those words correctly. Highly missional people intentionally eat together. In our highly digital world, connecting face to face is becoming a rare, but treasured feat. Honestly, I feel challenged in this area. My breakfast is usually on the run, lunch is eaten during work break, and dinner is a toss-up between a family meal and/or snacks at a baseball game. But in reality, grabbing a snack or drink with someone at a ball game is easily attainable. After all, everyone needs to eat and drink. And most of us eat at least three times a day, which equates to 21 meals a week.

Eating together has been a common practice among Christians since the beginning of God’s church. Sharing a meal together is one of the primary ways where people connect not only with God, but also with others. It’s a place where relationships begin and flourish. When we take the time to eat together, we are showing the other person that we care enough about them to live ordinary life with them. It satisfies our need to know and be known through face-to-face conversation.

In his book, Surprise the World!, Michael Frost shares a posed question: How would you complete the following sentence: ‘The Son of Man came . . . ?” There are three ways that the New Testament completes that sentence: while the first two are well known, the third is surprising:

  • “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45, ESV).
  • “The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10, ESV).
  • “The Son of Man came eating and drinking” (Luke 7:34).

While the first two oft-quoted verses tell us about Jesus’ purpose in coming—to serve, to give his life as a ransom, to seek and save the lost—the third describes his method. How did Jesus come? He came eating and drinking.

During Jesus’ earthly ministry, we see him reclining “at the table” while interacting with common people and sinners as He furthers His kingdom work. This is also where true community and genuine fellowship among His disciples developed (Luke 5:29; 7:36; 11:37; 14:15). The early church gathered regularly in homes to “break bread together” as a practical expression of their fellowship in Christ (Acts 2:46). The Apostles also exhort us to show hospitality (Rom. 12:13; Heb. 13:2; 1 Peter 4:9). (A great article on hospitality can be found here: A Meal Says More Than You Think: The Importance of Hospitality.)

Finally, God declares that eating together is important through the depiction of the great marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev. 9:6-10). Joyous, soul-quenching eternal communion with God and our brothers and sisters in Christ is detailed through the sharing of a meal together.

Weekly Challenge

So here’s our challenge for this week:

  1. Bless three people, at least one of whom is not a member of your church.
  2. Eat with three people, at least one of whom is not a member of your church. It doesn’t have to be a big fancy meal. If you’re a coffee lover, go ahead and have that cup of coffee with that person who has been on your mind.

Five Habits of Highly Missional People: Bless

Posted on by under God's Call, Service

Last week I shared how God blessed my family by answering our prayer to send help when our boat engine decided to take a nap. In the midst of catching Kokanee, these people reeled in their lines before one man dove into the lake and secured a rope between our boats. Then they towed us for an hour back to the main dock. (You may read my story here: When God Winks.)

Do you recall a time when someone blessed you through an act of kindness? Did you wonder why that person took the time to put you first?

Knowing full well how serious most fishermen around here are when they find a great spot, I couldn’t help but wonder: Why would they set aside their successful Kokanee run just to give us a personal tow back to the dock? They could have pretended they didn’t see our boys rowing and let the next boaters who happened into our cove help out. They could have saved themselves precious time by flagging down the sheriff on patrol. But no, in the middle of their cherished recreation, they set aside their agenda and favored us as though we had been lifetime friends.

What a blessing! Although we didn’t ask why they helped us out, I couldn’t help but think, that’s exactly what Jesus would have done! What a shining example of what Christian living should look like! As Christians, our task is to surprise the world in a positive light. We may not all be called to be evangelists (2 Timothy 4:5, Ephesians 4:11) or missionaries overseas, but we are all called to pray and conduct ourselves in word and deed to provoke others to question their beliefs and engage in an evangelistic conversation.

In his book, Surprise the World!, Michael Frost writes: The trick is to develop habits that unite us together as believers, while also propelling us into the lives of others. We also need habitual practices that don’t deplete our energy and burn us out, but rather reenergize us, replenishing our reserves and connecting us more deeply to Jesus. I have seen these missional habits do just that:

BELLS – Bless, Eat, Listen, Learn, Sent

What kind of living ushers in God’s reign by arousing curiosity among unbelievers, which leads to questions and faith sharing? How can we foster a set of habits that will help shape others’ beliefs and values? The first habit of highly missional people is to intentionally bless others.

Generosity Challenge

Bless three people this week, one of whom is not a member of your church. We can do this in three ways: 1) words of affirmation, 2) acts of kindness, and/or 3) giving a gift. Do this and see if you won’t be blessed by being a blessing!

When God Winks

Posted on by under God's Call, Service

Wafts of fried chicken wet our appetites as we back our boat away from the dock. Can’t beat this weather, I think as I determine to make the most of our last family outing before our oldest son returns to college for his summer session.

This boat might be old, but it still has kick. The wind cools our skin as we zip across the lake to our own quiet cove, tucked away from other boaters. Eric, my husband, kills the engine and we dive into the bucket of chicken while taking in the blue sky and surrounding pine covered mountains. With three teenagers, it doesn’t take long to clean out our lunch.

“Who’s up for wakeboarding?” Eric asks as he turns the key.

Silence. Not from our kids – from our boat engine!

Maybe he needs to push the button on the throttle first? He tries a second time . . . and a third . . . still nothing, not even a click from the starter.  

Handing the oars to the boys and pointing, Eric lays out the plan: “We need to get past that point so we can flag down a boater for help.” The boys are good sports as they start to row. But we’re not the only ones enjoying the water today. Persistent boat waves from many boats on the lake prove to be a daunting challenge with our heavy boat. None of us voiced what we all knew to be true. It would take at least a couple of hours before anybody would see our dilemma because the closest boat is not very close.

“Maybe we should pray,” I offer. We bow our heads. “Lord, please bring another boater and/or a sheriff soon who can help us get back to the loading dock.”

I kid you not, maybe three or four minutes pass before a fishing boat rounds the corner. I signal them with our orange flag. “They’re heading our way!”

“We see you!” A lady yells. It’s not long before the boat with two couples are within 20 feet.

“How’s the fishing?” I ask, my attempt at small talk.

“It’s been great . . . catching lots of Kokanee,” the lady answers.

“Looks like you need a tow. Do you have a rope we can use?” The dark haired man (I’ll call Nick) asks. Well aware of disrupting their fishing, none of us were about to object to receiving a tow. So Eric throws him our rope as Nick assesses our boat. He secures one end of the rope to their boat. Without hesitation, he dives into the water and ties the other end to the lower tow hook on the bow of our boat. And without much more verbal exchange aside from saying “thank you so much”, we gratefully accept their help.

Back at the main dock, Nick declines our offer to pay him something, but tells us to repay the favor to the next person who needs a helping hand. I tell him that he and his friends are a speedy answer to our prayer— which was that God would send a boater and/or a sheriff.

“Well, I am a deputy sheriff in another county” he says with a big grin.

I think God must have been smiling, perhaps winking too. Not only did He remind us that He is closer to us than our heartbeats, but He also cares about every little detail of our lives. He may not answer every prayer that quickly. But He certainly hears our prayers and savors the time and attention we give Him.

Nick and his friends could have ignored us and kept on fishing. But instead, they dropped what they were doing, and helped us out. What an example and huge blessing! My challenge to myself, my family, and to you Dear Reader, is to be watchful and intentional on how we might bless others. Have a wonderful week!

Destiny and Decision

Posted on by under God's Call
“And we know that all that happens to us is working for our good if we love God and are fitting into his plans.” ~Romans 8:28 (TLB)

God has a destiny for your life. He knew you before you were even born. You can join Him, or resist His plan. Listen to Pastor Cliff Purcell as he shares this powerful truth: Destiny and Decision (June 2, 2019).