Strutting His Stuff One of the most beautiful birds is the peacock. The male's train of feathers can be up to six feet long, creating up to sixty percent of its length. When looking to attract a mate, the peacock will spread out his plumage in a colorful display, fanning his feathers at a rate of twenty-six times per second with the hopes of catching the eye of a female. It is a very proud exhibition. The colorful display, the rhythmic movement, the exaggerated strut, and the shrill vocalizations are the male's way of saying, "Look at me! I am the one you are looking for!" There is an air of confidence as the male "struts his stuff." The Church at Corinth As I was reading Paul's first letter to the church in Corinth this morning, the display of the peacock immediately came to mind. This local body of believers had a problem. Rather than being united in their pursuit of Jesus and the gospel message, they were divided by the messengers of t...
Anytime someone asks me how God speaks to us today, my first response is through the Bible. God's primary means of communicating to us about who he is and who we are is found in his own revelation to us in Scripture. In the Old Testament, he speaks to us throughout history, through poetry, through his law, and by the mouths of his prophets. In the New Testament, he speaks through his Son - Jesus, as we read the eye-witness accounts of the gospels, see the creation and confession of the early church, and are encouraged by the writings of the apostles. God primarily speaks through his word... but he can also speak through our circumstances, through situations and other people. This morning, I was reminded of the latter. In our Sunday School class, we have decided to devote one Sunday each month to focus on prayer. Rather than have prayer be the two shorter bookends to a longer lesson or lengthy discussion, one Sunday each month we have decided to invert our "order of se...