When I was in kindergarten, my family took a trip from our home in Missouri to Mount Rushmore (a popular destination in the Midwest). Aside from my dad driving the wrong way home (he realized it when I read aloud the sign, "Welcome to Wyoming"), the most memorable part of that trip was a little bag of rocks I picked up at a gift shop somewhere in South Dakota.
Some people view prayer as a ritual that is to be practiced by sheer determination of will. It's often considered a religious act performed with or without feeling in order to earn cred with God, for people to prove to Him that they really are committed.
But this is not what Jesus taught about prayer.
I listened to a podcast yesterday in preparation for an upcoming seminar I'm teaching in Illinois. The topic itself is full of all sorts of interesting sub-topics, debates, and questions. It's a complex and curious subject to explore.
However, the two men I was listening to were dreadfully boring. The episode was two hours long but they made it feel like three. It was striking how they could take a hotly-debated Bible topic and make it about as thrilling as the fine-print warranty that comes with a wristwatch.
How would your life change if you were the only Christian in your nation? In your state? Your county? Your city? Your neighborhood? Your family?
For some of you, those last two situations are very real.
When we consider what it would be like to be the only one ultimately responsible to deliver the good news to a group of people, we can start to feel the pressure that brings, and imagine how our lives would have to radically change. But is this hypothetical scenario really that hypothetical?
The Bible is against idolatry of all sorts. This seems like an obvious statement, but it can catch us by surprise when it confronts the idols that we didn't fully realize we were worshipping.
"We prioritize prayer in this life as we live for the next."
Not all priorities are formal. In fact, the vast majority of true priorities in our lives are instinctual and thoughtless. This is evident when it comes to eating: we do not have to deliberately make time in our schedules to satisfy our hungry tummies or think through strategies about how we will get calories into our systems (diets excepted).
Is prayer a true priority for us?
"We study the Bible because it is the whole counsel of God."
One of the biggest misconceptions people have about the Bible is that it is incomprehensible. Though it is true that Scripture is complex and profound, there could hardly be a bigger lie than claiming that it is beyond our apprehension and understanding.
Consider the proclamation of Deuteronomy 29:29: "The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever..."
"We proclaim the gospel to the world so that they may be saved."
There have been a few times in our lives when we've missed out on something we wished to be a part of because nobody told us. Perhaps we even said, "Nobody told me!" with bitterness in our breath. Such circumstances can enrage or otherwise depress us. When the stakes are higher, the feelings are more intense.
"We love each other and cherish the fellowship of God's people."
When a young zebra is separated from the herd, he is much more susceptible to the wiles of lions. Perhaps you've seen footage from the African safari of young animals unable to defend themselves, falling prey to predators. For the tender-hearted, it can be difficult to watch; for the rest of us, it satisfies a morbid curiosity.
"We serve God wherever we are, knowing He has put us there."
Where does God's will meet (or override) our stewardship? This is one of the most difficult topics that we face.
There's a man who invests and saves his money diligently throughout his life, only to encounter circumstances totally outside of his control that leave him empty-handed. It was the will of God. Yet there's another man who does not invest or save his money and he, too, is left empty-handed. It was his lack of stewardship. Not so fast. The first man was not exempt from engaging in good stewardship and the second man was not exempt from the will of God. Both men live with both realities -- just as we do (in all things, I should add).