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Published: 15 January 2021

In one of my high school classes back in the 1970’s, a teacher told our class “you can’t legislate morality.”  Sadly, I believed him for a long time.  Teachers have a lot of influence and we should be very careful who we listen to for perspective.  Of course we can legislate morality!  We have many rules on the books right now that draw lines between moral and immoral behavior.  It’s still wrong to murder someone or to steal their stuff.  Perhaps my teacher should have said that we cannot legislate behavior.  That would have been more accurate.  Having a law does not guarantee it will be followed.  A nationwide mask mandate may or may not help the spread of COVID but the mandate won’t cause everyone to wear a mask…moral or immoral.  The same is true with abortion.  There were abortions before Roe vs. Wade and there will be abortions if it is ever overturned.  The only way to stop abortions is to so saturate our communities with the message and actions of God’s love that people will happily choose life over termination.  I’m all for making abortions illegal.  However, I know human nature well enough to know that our job will not be over if Roe vs. Wade ever gets flipped.  We, the church, are still going to have to meet people in their crises and help them see life-giving alternatives.  It’s going to take more than laws to see the Sanctity of Human Life take a stronger foothold.  It’s going to take a church committed to becoming life-giving people willing to enter the mess.  You in?

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Published: 08 January 2021

Many people struggle to stay on track during times of private prayer.  Perhaps you sit down to pray and start to think about your day, the water softener, the flat tire on your car, letting the dog out, how you hurt a person, how somebody hurt you, what’s for breakfast, what is on TV, will the Lions ever get to the Super Bowl…and Lord help the missionaries…Amen.  It is certainly okay to talk to God about all of those things but having a plan for your times of private prayer will very likely help you stay more on track.  The first and best outline for prayer is from the teaching of Jesus in Matthew 6.  We would do well to spend much time meditating on His instructions.  Praying Scripture from the OT and the NT is also very helpful, Lord willing we’ll be looking at Paul’s prayer requests from Ephesians 1 and 3 on this coming Sunday.  These prayer requests go beyond physical needs to the needs of the inner life.  That’s where we really live and where motives and decisions are birthed.  You’ll see the importance of these prayer requests if you join us.  If you haven’t already, I encourage you to come up with your own prayer list, including Scripture, so that your times of communication with God are characterized by His Word and Will and not just the rambling thoughts that migrate like geese through our heads.  So beloved, let us pray, in the Spirit.