share | lifevolumeone

Vince,

I’m really glad that you’re enjoying the Kairos small groups. I’m just certain that small groups are the key to maintaining your relationships with God and with others. You can be a Christian with just you and your Bible and prayer with God; but you can GROW as a Christian, and move from being a spectator to being a participant (even a leader) in the process of making disciples, if you’re involved in regular meetings with other brothers where you talk about what God is doing in your lives. Praise God for what He is doing in your life. I’m always astounded when I think that God has picked us out, before the foundation of the earth, to BE HIS. Whoa!

I hope you get to work as a servant on Kairos #5. I will be there, and maybe we could spend a little time visiting together. At the very least, you can come to the closing. I’m looking forward to seeing you. You’re right; being a servant on a weekend is almost better than being on a weekend the first time, because you know more and you get to see more and understand more.

When you talk about your daughters, not being hungry or homeless, it makes me think about my kids; they’re not perfect, but they’re not on hard drugs, they’re gainfully employed; they’re in their 40’s and not still living at home. (And a couple of them are serious trusters in Jesus.) What more could I ask?

So here’s the main reason I’m writing you back so soon. I want to answer the question of “Why bad things happen to good people (particularly to little kids and/or innocent people). What is the point? Why does God do this? Or maybe better “Why does God let things like this happen.” Especially to people who don’t deserve it.

I don’t know. I’m not in charge. In the Book of Job, God says to Job, near the end of the book, “Who are you to question Me? Where were you when I created all this?” In Romans 5:3-5, it says, “3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.” NLT Continue reading →

I’m sure there are many versions of ‘prayer and share’ groups out there. Often these are called by different names. Sometimes they are practiced along with and under the guise of ‘Bible Study Groups’ or Sunday School groups, where there is some teaching and discussion of Biblical principles. But the really important ingredients of prayer and share groups are the following, a few people, seldom more than five or six, often as few as two or three; who meet once a week for about an hour. Everybody gets to share about what God is doing in their lives; what is happening to them and what they are doing about it, in the Lord. There is an atmosphere of trust and confidentiality in which people can be open and be vulnerable (call it unconditional love). The prayer and share groups I am aware of are usually just men or women, not both; that way there is more vulnerability and more openness. When people share about their lives in the Presence of the Lord, there is a supernatural amount of understanding and healing; a sense of unity in the Body of Christ that you just don’t find anywhere else. Having a small group is an important factor. If the group is too large, say 10-15 people, most are reticent to share what’s really going on in their hearts and lives. (But there are exceptions to every rule!)

Prayer and share with a small group of Christian brothers or sisters has a way of drawing you closer to Him and to them in a way that is qualitatively different from other Christian experiences I’ve been involved in. It is a sense of being a member of the family of God that I hadn’t known before I became involved in one. This really is what Jesus is talking about when He says, “Where two or three of you are gathered in My Name, there I am in the midst.” [Notice I didn’t say anything about praying. We always pray at the end, and sometimes in the middle when we feel a push from the Holy Spirit. By the way, you’ll know.]

What do you think? . . . What do you do?

1] Are you involved in a prayer and share group that meets regularly; say weekly?

2] Would you like to be?

	Peter Green on TRUSTING GOD FOR OTHERS.0…
	Tex Tonroy on Unity & Harmony
	Bob on Unity & Harmony