The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must
be the guide and the critic of the state, and never its tool. If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an
irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority.

Martin Luther King, Jr., Strength to Love, 1963.

We are susceptible to heretical teachings because, in one form or another, they nurture and reflect the way that we would have it be, rather than the way God has provided, which is infinitely better for us. As they lead us into the blind alleys of self-indulgence and escape from life, heresies pander to the most unworthy tendencies of the human heart.

Bishop C. FitzSimmons Allison

Here's today's question, why do words employed in noble pursuit, words employed at the very height of their power render out of the mouth of the pastor as limp, useless, stagnant and stale? Why when we pray does nothing happen?

Could it be that we have uprooted prayer from the good soil that is the Word of God?

As the pastor you will be called upon to pray at the beginning of many things, at birth the beginning of life, at graduation the beginning of a career, at funerals the beginning of a new life, at housewarming, at weddings, at bedsides, at sports games at at at... the beginnings.

We are called on at the beginning of things but unless our words are rooted in the beginning of all things they will fall into the void.

Eugene Peterson says our words have been "uprooted from the soil of the word of God. These so-called prayers are cut-flower words, arranged in little vases for table decorations. As long as they are artificially provided for with a container of water, they give a touch of beauty. But not for long: soon they drop and are discarded."

It should be our hearts desire that our prayers are not cut-flowers, pretty objects that dress the table but are discarded past their usefulness. For our prayers to have power and authority they must be rooted in the life of the pastor who lives in Gods Word. Our words must take genesis in Genesis and provide revelation through Revelations.

Let's explore this together over the next few weeks.

When I found the following test it was billed as the world's easiest having a pass mark of just 4 out of 10. What I have since discovered is that 4 was setting my sights a little too high :)

There are some things in life that we just take for granted. For some of us it's our faith in God, faith in being able to keep our job, that are parents will always be there for us and one especially for those emerging pastors, that God works the way we think he does.

Nothing is more confronting than challenging our expectations especially about the fundamentals of life, those questions we thought we had put to bed years ago. What I continue to learn is that I have to unlearn and discover freshly what it means to be in a relationship with the God of the universe. I have to continually unlearn and discover again what my doctrine is, that's not simply throwing away everything I've learned but rather allowing new knowledge, new understanding and discoveries to be synthesized into my greater understanding of things.

So I encourage you to take this test (don't cheat, the answers are just below) and after you grade yourself take a few moments and pray to our Heavenly Father to reveal to you an area of your life or thinking (or both) where you have become stubborn or refuse to accept change and allow the Holy Spirit to challenge your expectations and grow you even more like Christ.

Let us live in the wisdom of John Maynard Keynes "When the facts change, I change my mind".


Here are the questions, be sure to write down your answers:

1. How long did the Hundred Years War last?
2. Which country makes Panama hats?
3. From which animal do we get catgut?
4. In which month do Russians celebrate the October Revolution?
5. What is a camel's hair brush made of?
6. The Canary Islands in the Pacific are named after what animal?
7. What was King George VI's first name?
8. What color is a purple finch?
9. Where are Chinese gooseberries from?
10. What is the color of the black box in a commercial airplane?

 

Now that was easy wasn't it? Check your answers below AND GOOD LUCK!

 

1. 116 years
2. Ecuador
3. Sheep and Horses
4. November
5. Squirrel fur
6. Dogs
7. Albert
8. Crimson
9. New Zealand
10. Orange, of course.

Do all the good you can, in all the ways you can, to all the souls you can, in every place you can, at all the times you can, with all the zeal you can, as long as you ever can.

- John Wesley

 

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