Five Smooth Stones

Modern Christians take a lot for granted- or at least I know I do! I often find myself wondering what my life would be like if I were a Christian in the first century. It is my life’s greatest ambition to serve God according to the New Testament pattern and to be an instrument of His will in restoring that New Testament pattern to the world. However, truth be told there will always be some big differences- hopefully not in doctrine (if that is the case I hope someone tells me so I can change!), but the things we have to face today may be a little different than in ancient times. I imagine myself as a preacher of the kingdom of Jesus in a land and time where almost no one has heard His name. I imagine preaching a concept that is completely foreign to the religious thinking of everyone around me, “a stumbling block to the Jews, and to the Greeks foolishness” (I Cor. 1:23). But the most terrifying and heart shattering difference is the fierce opposition and persecution that the early Chri...

  “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’” Luke 18:10-13.  Have you ever finished reading this parable and thought to yourself “thank the Lord that I am not like that Pharisee”? Oh the irony… and what a wake up call! We live in a culture that promotes self righteous attitudes and worldly justification. While the struggle in many other countries seems to be mainly outward (persecution, famine, disease), the primary threats to American Christians seem to be more in the realm of inside jobs (spiritual complacency, materialism, etc). That is to...