First, a confession. I didn't really know Mark Palmer. I did meet him at a "unconference" at Jason Evans' home. He was there along with Eric Keck and Kevin Rains. It was shortly after the passing of his wife Jennifer. Have you ever seen someone who is anointed with the Holy Spirit? I can't really describe it, but Mark was one of those guys. Every word he spoke had reverb, you know? Anyway, about a year later Mark married Amy and a few months later he was diagnosed with cancer. He died just a couple of months ago. Today was his birthday and Amy remembers him in a touching post. He would have been 32.

Have you ever noticed that God whispers loudest at your most vulnerable moments? I have had a number of those experiences. Jet-lagged, sleep deprived, maybe suffering from a cold, and sitting in an auditorium a long way from home seems the ideal setting for God to speak.

One of those times was at a Willow Creek leadership conference in about 1992. The travel had been intense and we went straight from the plane to a morning meeting. My eyes were already scratchy and burning from lack of sleep. In the middle of the talk, I can't even remember what Bill Hybels said, but it was something about God's heart for the lost. The tears came and my heart welled up with compassion.

God loves to catch us in those moments, and fill us with his heart for our world.

There is something especially difficult in the death of young leaders. Mark Palmer is the latest.

I met Palmer at a Church Planting Weekend at Jason Evans' home in Vista, CA. in September 2003. He was freshly grieving the death of his wife, Jennifer. I remember Palmer from that weekend because of the clear anointing of the Holy Spirit on every word he spoke. Mark is survived by his wife Amy and his 4-yr. old son, Micah.

Here is a quote from Mark's blog last May:
"So, in the midst of all the questions and the doubting and anger and grief and all the other emotions that I know at least I am feeling, please find belief on some level, and offer that. It's all we can do, offer what we have. There will be plenty of time for theologizing and philosophizing about good and evil and healing and non-healing and the apparent interest or disinterest of God in this situation, but for now maybe we just need to believe apart from all of that. Or maybe not apart from it, but in the midst of it."

I am praying for Amy, Micah, and all of those who loved Palmer. I am also praying for the Ohio cohort of warriors in the Spirit who have lost one of their beloved.

Whatever your position on Country Music might be, I am sure that you know that the genre is full of stories and sentiment. I happen to like country music. One of my favorites is a guy named Kenny Rogers, you know, the Gambler. In his old age (he's about 67 now) he continues to put out an album every once in a while. I downloaded it on itunes last week and was minding my own business, listening, when a song called My Petition came on. It tells the story of a little boy who is going door-to-door circulating a petition for signature. Everything was fine until it came to the chorus:

It [the Petition] said: "Make a law where Daddy's don't work late;
"Keep Uncle Joe an' those soldiers safe;
"Give those kids on TV all they want to eat;
"Put a stop to bullies on the bus;
"No crime, no waits, no hate, no drugs.
"Give a blanket and a job to people on the street."
I said: "Son, sounds like a world I'd like to live in."
And I signed his petition.

Something must have gotten in my eyes, because they were watering for no reason. The thought came to me, that sounds like a good recipe for living a Christ-like life. Spend time with the kids, pray for the safety of soldiers, that is, pray for peace, feed the hungry, stand against oppression, care enough about your neighbors to lift them from rugged circumstances. Sounds like a good start. Anyone got a copy of that petition?

One Christian leader I admired used to frequently assert that his most frequent prayer went something like: "Oh God, Oh God, Oh God, etc." This was usually uttered in time of great need. :) Another asserts that his "sinner's prayer" was, "Oh God, here I am." It seems that Jesus encouraged these kinds of prayers, simple, yet fervent. Father, let there be peace on earth and good will among all in this Christmas season, Amen.

Near the conclusion of last year's film, Bruce Almighty, Bruce encounters God and the following exchange occurs:
Bruce: What do you want me to do?
God: I want you to pray, son.
God: [looking ar prayer beads in Bruce's hand] Go ahead. Use them.
Bruce: Lord, feed the hungry. And… bring peace to all of mankind. How’s that?
God: Great. If you want to be Miss America. Now, come on. What do you really care about?
Bruce: Grace. [his girlfriend]
God: You want her back?
Bruce: No. I want her to be happy. No matter what that means. I want her to find someone to treat her with all the love that she deserved from me. I want her to meet someone who’ll see her always as I do now through your eyes.
God: Now that’s a prayer."

God help us to pray concerning things we care about...Teach me to pray.

Prayer is a pretty important part of the Christian life, don't you agree? If I search the Bible at biblegateway.com on prayer, I get dozens of references. There are many who have all kinds of approaches to prayer, praying the hours, prayer journaling, praying the Bible, just to name a few. I just wish I was better at praying "all the time", "without ceasing." I'll have to admit, I wonder what that means. I do know there are some dangerous prayers. "Oh God, your will be done in my life." Pray that prayer and you might get fired from your job that day. "Oh God, change me," that's another dangerous one. "Oh God, make us one," may lead to a significant exodus from your congregation! I have seen many answered prayers, even some of the dangerous ones, and it is always encouraging. But then, I seem to live long periods of prayerlessness. Oh God, teach me to pray...

From Kyle Lake's last sermon as read at his funeral and exactly as he wrote it (via Dan Kimball at Vintage Faith):