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Gladiators
I am a football fan, and it gets harder and harder. One reason it’s hard is I grew up in Kansas City and the Chiefs are a lousy team. Other than than, though, the violence of the game and the bloodthirst we’ve created as fans has finally reached a point for me where I am not as excited about a…
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What Does It Mean to “Own” a Country?
Actually, I have no idea. It was a challenge dropped into my heart during prayer a few weeks ago. There have been several things dropped into my heart in the past few weeks that have stirred me to prayer. These are things beyond me. Owning a country is one of them. It’s not “buying” a country. Wouldn’t that be nice? As…
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Are We Angry When We Intercede?
What is prayer? What is intercession? This thought rattled my mind this afternoon: What is the nature of petitionary prayer? lt is, in essence, rebellion —rebellion against the world in its fallenness, the absolute and undying refusal to accept as normal what is pervasively abnormal. It is, in this its negative aspect, the refusal of every agenda, every scheme, every…
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The Public Bus and the Church
Work with me on this one. I don’t ride the bus a lot, but this fall I’ve chosen to use it more. As I reflect on riding on the bus, I think of how the public bus might be a better reflection of what the Church should be, in some ways. There are certainly ways it reflects the Church in not…
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Evangelical “Right”, “Left”, “Center”…
Roger Olson has another thought-provoking piece on evangelicals and political movements. It’s always a tough read for me these days. What I witness too often are reactions. I grew up in the very conservative political movements of the “Moral Majority” and such. What I am witnessing today is a reaction that seems to say, “I don’t have to be Republican, so…
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EM Bounds on Prayer
Fervency in prayer is the precursor of what God will do by way of answer. God stands pledged to give us the desire of our hearts in proportion to the fervency of spirit we exhibit, when seeking His face in prayer. — E.M. Bounds, The Necessity of Prayer
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Designed for his presence
Arise! Shine! Your light has come; the Lord’s glory has shone upon you. (Isa. 60:1, CEB) We are called to be people of the presence. God’s design is for his glory to dwell among us. As the people of God, we are vessels of his glory. We are called to radiate his presence, his glory. Live in power. ASK for that…
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If praying is all this work…
Why pray? Why not look at the fallow ground of our souls and think, “This is just pristine wild, untouched wilderness. Why should we disturb this?” Why “plow up” the fallow ground of our hearts in prayer? That phrase just sounds like… work. Ew. Tozer isn’t pleasant about this life of prayer, either! The plowed life is the life that has, in…
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There is always the option of NOT praying
The beautiful thing about American Christianity is that it offers options. We can talk about revival all day long and come away thinking, “Wow. What an uplifting conversation.” The wonderful thing is we never really to do anything about it. Same thing with prayer. We can talk all day long. But in America, we have the option of actually NOT praying! It’s a beautiful…
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The Work of Intercession
I am working my way through Dutch Sheets book, Intercessory Prayer, with our staff at church. He lays out the work of intercession and intercessory prayer. The work of intercession is to call out on Christ, who intercedes for us. We are the ones who are to believe in the victory of Calvary. We are the ones who are to rise up…
