Consider this

            When I was a kid, I was taught that the temple in Jerusalem was God’s special dwelling place (see 1 Kings 8).   Over time, God’s people became unfaithful to him, so he allowed Jerusalem to be overrun and the temple was destroyed.   The conclusion to that lesson was that there are now no “special holy places” anymore.   But what if that is not the way to see things?             Consider this:   In Exodus chapter three, Moses is in a desert in the middle of nowhere.   In the distance, he sees a bush that is on fire, but, strangely, it is not burning up.   When he goes to investigate, God says to him, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground” (verse 5).   Now, why was that ground holy?   Was it because there was something unique and special about that plot of sand?   Of course not!   It was holy because God was there!             So, instead of thinking that “nothing is holy”, maybe I need to see things through the filter that sa

            At the start of the school year, my girls and their friends were discussing their schedules and their conversations went something like this: “Who do you have for English?”   “What is he like?”   “Is he nice?”   “What about math?”   “Does she give a lot of homework?”              I listened for a while and then asked, “Who cares what your friends think of them?   Why don’t you just go and find out for yourselves whether you like your teachers or not?”               Their response was, “We are not asking whether we should like them or not.   We are asking what sort of people they are and how they react to things.   It is always good to know a little about someone’s character before you have to deal with them”.               I couldn’t argue with that.               When it comes to spiritual things, many people ask “Should I like God or not?”   A much better question would be, “What is God like?”     If I knew God’s attitude, his nature, his character an

            Daniel was in trouble.   He and his people had been carried off to a foreign land by an invading army and the city of Jerusalem had been destroyed.   Daniel did not know what to do, so he began to pray.   He confessed the sins of his people and asked God to restore them to their land.             As he was praying, the angel Gabriel came to him and said, “Daniel, I have come to give you insight and understanding.   As soon as you began to pray, an answer was given” (Daniel 9:22-23).             Did you catch that?   “As soon as you began to pray, an answer was given”.   What an amazing  verse!   Think about what that means.               First, it means that prayer is more powerful than what we sometimes imagine.   I struggle to pray sometimes because it seems as though my words simply echo off the walls and never go anywhere or have any effect.   However, this verse shows otherwise.   When people pray, God listens and acts.             Second, I thin

            “You know what the church needs?   It needs….”             Over the years, I have heard, literally, hundreds of endings to that sentence.   It seems that almost everyone has an idea regarding what they think the church should be or do.    Interestingly, I do not recall anyone mentioning the one thing that God mentions more than twenty-five times.   This one thought is found throughout God’s word as he deals with his people over hundreds of years.   What does God think the church needs?               Listen to his words, in the form of a command, from the book of Hebrews: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts” (Hebrews 3:7-8, 15).             What if our biggest need is not a bunch of new programs, or new ways of doing things?   What if our biggest need is to have hearts that are soft and usable?   This applies in at least two areas.             First, we need hearts that are soft to the things of God.   What would happen if we really