Monthly Archives: April 2012
“Teach Us How to…Live”, An Early Church Fathers Take on “The Lord’s Prayer III
“Lord, teach us to pray…”
You would have reacted the same way, I suppose. The disciples had seen Jesus do incredible miracles. They also watched him pray a lot. They put two and two together and surmised that Jesus’ power was a result of his prayer. Now, every first century Jew knew how to pray. But nobody could do the miracles that Jesus was doing. The disciples wanted to know how to do that!
So they asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. That inquiry resulted in what we call “The Lord’s Prayer.” A short lesson on how to pray that the church has held dear ever since.
But is it a lesson on how one should pray?
“Yes, but”, is how I think I would answer that.
Yes, Jesus taught the disciples how to pray here. But if you look closer at what Jesus taught, I think He was actually Read the rest of this entry
Teach Us How to…Live? The Early Churches Take on “The Lord’s Prayer” Part 2
“Lord, teach us to pray…”
You would have reacted the same way, I suppose. The disciples had seen Jesus do incredible miracles. They also watched him pray a lot. They put two and two together and surmised that Jesus’ power was a result of his prayer. Now, every first century Jew knew how to pray. But nobody could do the miracles that Jesus was doing. The disciples wanted to know how to do that!
So they asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. That inquiry resulted in what we call “The Lord’s Prayer.” A short lesson on how to pray that the church has held dear ever since.
But is it a lesson on how one should pray?
“Yes, but”, is how I think I would answer that.
Yes, Jesus taught the disciples how to pray here. But if you look closer at what Jesus taught, I think He was actually Read the rest of this entry
Teach Us How To…Live? an Early Church Fathers Take on The Lord’s Prayer
“Lord, teach us to pray…”
You would have reacted the same way, I suppose. The disciples had seen Jesus do incredible miracles. They also watched him pray a lot. They put two and two together and surmised that Jesus’ power was a result of his prayer. Now, every first century Jew knew how to pray. But nobody could do the miracles that Jesus was doing. The disciples wanted to know how to do that!
So they asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. That inquiry resulted in what we call “The Lord’s Prayer.” A short lesson on how to pray that the church has held dear ever since.
But is it a lesson on how one should pray?
“Yes, but”, is how I think I would answer that.
Yes, Jesus taught the disciples how to pray here. But if you look closer at what Jesus taught, I think He was actually Read the rest of this entry
An Open Letter to the Worship Leaders in the Evangelical Church
Dear Pastor,
It is obvious to most of us that you enjoy leading the congregational worship time. You put a lot of effort into learning new songs, and rehearsing with the band. The PA sounds really good with those new subwoofers, by the way. The light show is dazzling, and the fog machine was a real nice touch. Your guitar solo’s are really smoking too! I want you to know that we do appreciate you and all you do for us. Most of us pray for you on a regular basis.
On Sunday mornings, you are always excited to lead us. It must be a bit of a shock to you that most of us are not as excited about singing as you are. You probably can’t see us, because of the bright lights in your eyes, but I sit in the back row. I often look around to observe the congregation and usually most of us are not singing. But it isn’t because we don’t like you or God, or because you can’t sing very good. Far from it. We do love God and you are a fantastic musician! A couple of us were discussing this lack of singing yesterday, and we thought you might want to know why this happens. Just in case you do, I would like to share our thoughts Read the rest of this entry
Not For Itching Ears 