My ramblings, after a forward

As some of you know I receive a number of newsletters from some “thinker” types. It helps push my own thinking beyond what I see. I got this one from John Piper’s ministry this week. I particularly like the quotes he takes from Sam Harris and Diane Setterfield. (At this point it might help you to read the article, or at least the indented quotes from those authors)

I wonder how many people in our community feel the way Sam Harris does? I wonder how many people don’t want to come to church because they see it and while they want to know God they don’t want to know us? I know that’s a harsh question, but what if that were true?

How many people feel like they are “at midnight, in the dark, when the wind is roaring like a bear in the chimney, when the lightning strikes shadows on the bedroom wall and the rain taps at the window with her long fingernails” and are looking for someone to be with them, to love them, to give them a hug, to let them be themselves warts and all. I know that I’m in serious danger of being overly fluffy and generalizing people and the church, but I wonder…

When it comes to the church what do we pray for? If I can make a request as I blog I make this it:

Please pray. Please care for your spiritual life, pray, study, struggle. I think we need to be prepared for some tougher sailing ahead. God has been good to us. We are blessed. Our enemy will not take this lying down. We must press on. We must encourage people, ourselves to do the work that God has put before us. We have a community before us, with many watching, what we will do with the blessings God has given to us. There is always tension within the ranks. An apprehension of what will come. We must continue to break down walls, we must forge a lasting legacy of hope and grace.

Pray for me, for focus, for strength, discernment, wisdom and a strong sense of the presence of God. Pray that all of us would win the battle of temptation that each of us faces daily.

That’s enough “soapboxing” for me today. Thank you for your work to see God’s kingdom advanced.